The men’s cross-country team is on its way to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the second year in a row after a solid team performance at the New England Division III Championships in Springfield, Mass. on Saturday. Co-captain Ellen Davis ’07 will accompany the men to Nationals, because she won the women’s race on Saturday to become the Division III New England champion.
Tri-captain Alex Battaglino ’07 led the Cardinals, finishing 17th of 309 in the 8,000-meter race with a time of 26:19.2. Anda Greeney ’07 (26:25.2) and Sean Watson ’08 (26:35.0) finished 24th and 34th, respectively, earning All-New England honors along with Battaglino. Greeney ran consistently throughout the race and out-kicked several competitors at the end, while Watson ran well despite being in pain.
“It was incredible to watch the race unfold,” said tri-captain Nick Holowka ’07. “Our guys all went out really hard and just hung tough the entire way.”
Tri-captain Jon King ’07 finished 43rd in 26:48.4, and Mike Brady ’07 placed 47th, completing the course in 26:53.1. For most of the race, it looked as if King would finish in the top 10, but he fell victim to dehydration down the stretch and heroically struggled to cross the finish line.
“I’ve gotta throw a lot of respect to Jon, who had the balls to finish despite suffering severe dehydration in the last quarter-mile,” Holowka said. “If he had dropped out, our season might be over now. I’m proud of what our team accomplished at Regionals, but it’s just a stepping stone to what we’ve really had our eyes on all year: a return to Nationals.”
Wesleyan fell just short of automatically qualifying for Nationals by finishing in the top three of the 43 teams in the region. The Cardinals finished in fourth place, one point behind third-place Trinity and well behind Williams and Bowdoin. The team was notified on Sunday that it had earned an at-large bid to Nationals, which will be held in Wilmington, Ohio on Saturday.
“With the team running at our potential, we can certainly beat Bowdoin and Tufts from our region and place ourselves in the top ten at Nationals, improving on last year’s 14th-place finish,” Greeney said. “Although we don’t have any obvious All-American studs like last year, we have a very solid pack with strong fourth and fifth men, which is extremely important in such a fast race.”
King and Brady, the fourth and fifth men for Wesleyan on Saturday, earned All-New England honors at Regionals last year, meaning that all of the Cardinals’ top five men have garnered All-New England honors within the last two seasons. There was also only a 34-second difference between Battaglino, Wesleyan’s first finisher, and Brady, the fifth finisher for the Cards. The other two members of Wesleyan’s varsity squad were not far behind, either.
“Ed Kenney [’07], coming off a great race last Saturday in which he secured the seventh team spot, bounced back with only a week’s rest, versus two weeks off for the rest of us,” Greeney said. “He placed 67th as our seventh man, which was a better finish than all sixth and seventh members of the other 43 teams, with the exception of Williams.”
Kenney’s time of 27:18.0 was just 7.6 seconds slower than that of Matt Shea ’08, who finished 61st overall and sixth on the team.
The women’s race began at noon, an hour after the start of the men’s race.
“The weather was beautiful, albeit a bit warm,” said co-captain Megan Kretz ’07. “The course had great footing and the teams were the most competitive we’ve faced all season. I think the women ran with a lot of heart. Our strategy was to go out aggressively and stay focused throughout the race. I would say that we succeeded in that aspect.”
Davis placed first out of 321 finishers, crossing the finish line of the 6,000-meter course in 21:29.3, 12 seconds before the nearest competitor. With the win, Davis qualified individually for Nationals, where she finished 15th last year to earn All-American honors. She also gave Wesleyan a New England Division III Champion for the second straight year, as Owen Kiely ’06 won the men’s race last year.
“We’re all extremely proud of Ellen and are looking forward to being her biggest cheerleaders at next weekend’s national championship,” Kretz said.
Lucia Pier ’08 placed 34th in 23:12.1, giving the Cardinals five All-New England runners on the day. Julia Stone ’09 finished 104th (24:45.7), Liz Wheatley ’09 finished 113th (24:57.1), Hannah Hastings ’08 finished 131st (25:42.7), and Kretz finished 139th (25:49.2). The Cardinals placed 16th out of the 48 teams at the meet despite entering only six runners because of injuries.
The goal for the men’s team this Saturday is to finish the season as one of the nation’s top ten teams, a strong possibility if all members of the squad run up to their potential, and the goal for Davis is to become the Division III national champion.
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