The Wesleyan women’s cross country team continued its strong start to the season at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University last Saturday, where it finished eighth out of 39 teams and first among Division III schools. In a thrilling culmination to the race, the Cardinals finished with 340 points to edge out Rowan University by a mere point and take home the gold among the Division III pool.
On an individual level, co-captain Julia Mark ’13 earned 20th place out of 324 competitors. Mark finished the 5k course in 22:37, 47 seconds behind first place finisher Victoria Davis from Bloomsburg University. Hannah Zimmerman ’13 was not far behind with a time of 23:01, which was good enough for 38th place. The rest of the scoring five for the Cards were Dana Louie ’15 in 90th (23:47), Jessica Sherry ’13 in 94th (23:49), and Veronica Alvarado ’15 in 98th (23:50).
“We are starting to build confidence as a team,” Mark remarked.
Hopefully, this confidence will help the Cardinals translate their hard work into continued success.
“I think about the dedication of my teammates—whether they’re injured and powering through an elliptical workout, or picking up the pace on the last mile of a long run,” Mark continued. “I owe it to them to push through. Not every team has that kind of support from within.”
Such positive sentiment bodes well for the rest of the season.
In the men’s field, the Wesleyan team came in a solid but unspectacular 17th of 33 teams with 427 points, well behind the top three of Penn (47), Canisius (167), and Stony Brook (182). Following an exceptional performance at the Wesleyan Invitational, this result is somewhat disappointing. However the Cardinals have every reason to feel confident about bouncing back at the next meet.
Bryan Marsh ’13 led Wesleyan with a ninth place overall finish. He ran the 8k course in 25:34, only 30 seconds behind winner Frank Fezza from East Stroudsburg University. Skyler Cummins ’13 also submitted a strong performance, finishing in 19th with a time of 25:51. Taylor Titcomb ’16 led the Cardinal freshmen at 26:29 for 63rd place and 12th among all the freshmen in the field. The final two of Wesleyan’s scoring five were Matt Kim ’16 in 142nd with a time of 27:31, and Zak Malik ’14 in 194th with a time of 28:36.