Cross Country Ends Season

Both the men's and women's cross country teams finished out their seasons at last Saturday's Great Lakes Regional Championship. The women placed 15th in their field of 28 while the men were 18th out of 31 teams. The meet, featuring teams from three states, was held at Hanover College in Indiana.

Senior David Bevacqua and sophomore Lori Tuchfeld earned all-Region honors, both placing 16th in their respective races.

Bevacqua ran a tough race staying with the leaders for the entire race. He crossed the finish line just 1.2 seconds away from qualifying for NCAA Nationals.

"I am very disappointed about missing nationals by one place especially when I know I can compete there," Bevacqua said. He credited the strong performances of his competitors for his narrow loss, as well as the fact that Oberlin races in "the fastest region in the country."

"So 16th out of three states isn't so bad," he added.

"We were heartbroken. We were mad at the clock," senior co-captain Jenni Huelsman said. "But that's the way it happens."

Fortunately, Tuchfeld didn't have the added pressure, finishing several places back from the national qualifiers. "I just enjoyed my race," she said.

Other notable Yeorunners included first-year Adam Greeny (62), senior Eric Ludlow-Mallea (122) and junior Hans Petersen (131) for the men and senior co-captain Beth Spalding (54), sophomore Kyle McKenzie (92) and first-year Julia Goeke (99) for the women.

Most of the runners attributed the slower times to the course being hillier than expected. But they weren't disappointed. "Overall it went really well," Tuchfeld said. "Everyone ran great races."

"We ran it like we wanted to run it," senior John Millet said. "We couldn't do any better."

Ludlow-Mallea ran despite a strained hip flexor that almost prevented him from lifting his leg, according to Bevacqua. Schwartz ran on a slightly pulled hamstring. Sophomore Laura Feeney competed in her second meet after returning from a broken foot she suffered midway through the season.

For the season, Oberlin appeared to turn in another typical three months of high hopes, inopportune injuries and lower-than-expected finishes, but that's not the whole story. "If you look at the times at conference, nearly everyone got a PR," Rogers said. The other teams just had phenomenal years according to Rogers.

"You can't ask for any more than [Oberlin] gave at conference," he added.

Still, it wasn't all roses for either team. "We really thought we had a shot at winning the conference at the beginning [of the season]," Huelsman said. "But things just didn't work out." Injuries to Feeney, Rogers and first-year Alex Scalley shook team morale.

But "in the end it brought the rest of us together," Millet said. According to Huelsman, there was a different success story in each race of the season. She made note of Goeke who filled a big hole in Oberlin's top five left by the graduation of captain Medorah Lytle last year. Goeke provided a strong compliment to Tuchfeld, Feeney, Huelsman and senior co-captain Beth Spalding throughout the season.

Next year's squads look to pick up where these teams left off. "We have some really fast recruits," Huelsman said. "If we can get a couple of people to run with Lori, we can challenge Denison easily."

"Gavin's [head coach Gavin O'Neal] has been doing a great job of recruiting," Rogers said.

Both squads have a pair of strong runners the captains agree a team can be build around. For the women, it's Tuchfeld, the 2000 NCAC champion in the 3K, and Feeney. Scalley and Greeney are the men to watch according to Rogers. "They're going to be very strong in the next couple of years." Greeney was the second fastest first-year in the NCAC at Regionals.

The crop of graduating seniors will be sorely missed. Bevacqua, Spalding, Huelsman, and Rogers have each been All-Conference honorees in their careers. "Eric [Mallea] and Dan [Schwartz] had spectacular seasons," Rogers said. "It was really enjoyable to see them improve."

Likewise, the seniors will miss racing for Oberlin. "It has been a great four years," Bevacqua said. "I feel a deep respect and comraderie for all of these men."

Many runners from both the men's and women's squads will continue to race during the winter and possibly spring seasons. Bevacqua is expected to challenge for the 3000m steeplechase title in outdoor track. The women's indoor track and field team returns most of the squad that took second at last year's conference championship.

One thing is for sure, win or lose, there won't be a lack of enthusiasm. Oberlin will "I'm really excited about indoor season," Tuchfeld said. "I can't wait to run more races."