The Elizabethtown College cross country teams traveled to Ohio to compete in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble, which featured many DIII programs from the Midwest, Great Lakes and Atlantic regions. The men’s team took 11th in the varsity 8k race and 7th in the open 8k, led by sophomore Zach Trama, who was Etown’s top finisher in 16th place. The women fared better, finishing 7th in the varsity 6k and tied for 3rd in the open 6k, led by senior Traci Tempone, who finished in 3rd place.
The men’s varsity race had some steep competition, with New York University (NYU) taking the team gold and Bobby Over of Allegheny College taking first overall with a time of 25:01.3. Trama’s 16th place was just over 40 seconds behind the leader, putting up a time of 25:44.7. Senior Stephen Welsh was the second Jay to cross the finish line, coming in 62nd with a time of 26:43.9. Sophomores Matt Shenk and Ryan Conway and senior Ian Hamilton rounded out the top five Etown finishers in the varsity race. Shenk finished 72nd with a time of 26:47.7, while Conway placed 79th at 26:51.7. Hamilton rounded out the Jays with 121st putting up 27:21.
“We went out to Oberlin College in Ohio to compete in a big inter-regional race. It’s always a fun time and everybody really likes the course,” Trama said. “As a team, I am proud of how everybody did. We had a whole lot of people run breakout races and show great potential for the years to come. We have had a few guys throughout the season suffer from small injuries, so once we get those taken care of we are going to be ready for the MAC championships.”
The women’s team was led by Tempone, who ran 21:59.1. She finished very close behind NYU’s Emily Cousens (21:54.5) and Kelsey Aamoth of Case Western (21:55.5). Tempone and the rest of the top five finishers for the Jays ran their season-best times. Seniors Amanda Kerno and Megan Tursi took 45th and 56th place, respectively, with times of 22:53.8 and 23:04.4. Junior Amelia Tearnan finished fourth for the Jays taking 61st at 23:09.4; five seconds behind Tursi’s time. First-year Liz Wedekind ran 23:30 to take 81st in her second collegiate 6k.
Both teams look to end their regular season on the right foot this Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Hood College Open. The teams will then move on to defend their Middle Atlantic Conference Championship at DeSales University on Nov. 2 at 11a.m.
