At the New England Open Championship, Saturday, Oct. 7, the men’s cross country team had mixed results, finishing 14th of 45 squads and second among Division III teams in the competition. Although Wesleyan finished in front of seven NESCAC squads, they finished four spots behind a surprisingly adept Bowdoin team.
All five of the scoring members for Wesleyan who ran the 8,000 meter race placed in the top half of the 307 runners in the field. Alex Battaglino ’07 led the charge with a time of 25:32, good enough to come in 42nd for the race. The rest of the Cards followed directly behind, all within less than a minute of Battaglino’s time. Sean Watson ’08 finished 62nd with a time of 25:44. Jon King ’07 finished 69th with a time of 25:48. Anda Greeney ’07 finished 107th with a score of 26:04. Ed Kenney ’07 finished 147th with a time of 26:30.
“Alex [Battaglino] made a crucial move early on that bumped him up in the pack and Sean [Watson] and I didn’t go with him, which was a big mistake,” King said.
Despite the solid performance from the Cards, finishing 14th in the open field and 2nd among Division III squads, the team remains less than satisfied by the results.
“The times were pretty fast, but that means very little in the long run,” Watson said. “What [Saturday] really showed us is that we have a lot of work to do to achieve our goals: winning NESCAC and the Region.”
The loss to Bowdoin in particular was a sore point for the Cards, who hope to clean up in the NESCAC this year. And although the Cards defeated both of their little three rivals in Williams (15th) and Amherst (17th), the race was extremely close, foreshadowing the upcoming Little Three rumble at Amherst on Saturday, Oct. 21.
“While the times looked great on Saturday, I think a lot of the guys know that they need to step it up in order to really stick it to Amherst and Williams at Little Three’s,” King said.
The team is confident that they can rise to the occasion.
“Little Three’s should be a battle for the ages,” Nick Holowka ’07 said. “I think the key for all these guys is that they’ve been putting in hard work, and they’re seeing results. That’s what this sport is all about: pain and sacrifice.”
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