Wesleyan's challenging course helped both the men and women cruise past feeble opposition.
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Last Friday, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams dominated the Wesleyan Invitational, sweeping their three competitors. The men’s team finished with 15 points compared to Wheelock College’s 76, Post University’s 52, and Mitchell College’s disqualification. The women’s team completed the invitational with a matching 15 points, sailing past Wheelock’s 53, Post’s 79, and Mitchell’s 91.
Stealing first place on home turf was not enough for the men’s team; they also racked up 11 of the top 12 spots. Reid Hawkins ’17 ran an average mile time of 5:17.8, a first place finish.
Taylor Titcomb ’16 glided in a mere 2.5 seconds after Reid’s finish, Will Dudek ’17 came rolling in 12.5 seconds after Titcomb, and Tate Knight ’18, Eric Arsenault ’17, Keith Conway ’16, and Shota Nakamura ’19 stole the next four top spots. The Cardinals took the top seven spots out of the 33 runners in the race.
Hawkins responded to the victory as any ambitious and talented athlete would.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done to be ready for November,” he said, referring to the NCAA regional and national championships later this fall. “The team didn’t have it’s best day ever, but everyone ran tough and we saw some good performances. We’re all excited to get into some bigger races in the upcoming weeks.”
Knight echoed some of his teammate’s sentiments.
“The importance of Friday’s race was not the win, but rather how we ran individually and collectively as a team,” he said. “The race went out relatively fast for our course, with the first six of us going through the mile around 4:55-5:05. With returning teammates besting their last-year’s time on the course, and strong finishes by all of the freshmen, we look forward to improving the speed and depth of our team as the season progresses.”
“Friday’s race was a good way to start off the season and showed us the type of depth we are going to have this year,” Conway said. “At this point in the season we are all still running big mileage, with our focus being on championship season. So we are excited for what this result, combined with continued, intense training could mean for us at NESCACs, Regionals and Nationals come November.”
The women’s team shared similar success as they placed all nine runners in the top 10 spots. Molly Schassberger ’17 strolled into first place with an average mile time of 6:16.2. She was followed closely by Caroline Elmendorf ’17, Julia Mitchell ’19, Christina Hebner ’17, and Rhoen Fiutak ’19, leaving no room for opponents in the top five positions.
Hebner highlighted the importance of teamwork in the seemingly individualistic sport.
“We have a really deep team this year, which means just instead of having a few superstars, we have a big strong pack who can run together and that way we can score a lot more points and do a lot better at meets,” she said.
She also commented on the unique problems of Wesleyan’s course.
“Despite unanticipated footing conditions, due to a lack of firmness in the soil, the girls’ team came together and ran as a pack, and our feet lead us to victory,” she said. “It’s safe to say our team needs a trip to the spa after that one.”
Molly Schassberger ’17 reminisced on Friday’s victory.
“It was a pretty small meet,” she said. “It was still great to get out there and see where our fitness levels are as we prepare for some bigger meets coming up. I’m really excited about the season, as is everyone. We have three new freshmen, all of whom look really strong, particularly for it being so early in the season. With their additions and all of our returning runners, we’re looking forward to a high finish at regionals which could even earn us a bid to nationals.”
The Wesleyan course is infamously rigorous, including “the wall,” a 10-meter uphill grind on the route. Home courses have their advantages, but the cross country teams are eager to continue performing, starting with the annual Paul Short Run at Lehigh on October 2. The next home race is not until the end of October, when both the men and women will compete against top DIII teams across the country in the heavily anticipated NESCAC tournament.