For only hoping to show a steady improvement from the teams’ previous performances, the Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s cross country teams exceeded expectations at the Dickinson Long and Short Invitational Saturday, Sept. 28. The men’s team took second in the short course team standings, while the women, who also ran the shorter race, tied Dickinson College for first.
The men’s team was led by junior Stephen Welsh, who placed third in the four kilometer race with a time of 12:59.30. Senior Aaron Focht, junior Matt Rever, sophomore Dan Gresh and first-year Matt Shenk took places fourth through seventh, respectively, all finishing within just eight seconds of Welsh. Dickinson took first and second place, leading the Red Devils to the short course team title.
Focht knew regional foe Dickinson would be a tough competitor, but he was excited to get a better look at the Red Devils and their race course. “The meet will also be a nice preview for regionals since Dickinson is hosting that race as well,” Focht said. “Regionals will be the most important meet … and getting to race there earlier in the season will give us an advantage over some of the other teams in our region.”
On the women’s team, junior Traci Tempone led the team by taking first place with a time of 14:52.9. She was followed by senior Taryn Shank, who finished sixth, and junior Eileen Cody, who finished eighth. In addition to the top 10 finishers, Etown earned half of the 11-20 spots.Sophomore Amelia Tearnan finished 11th, while finishes 17-20 went to junior Amanda Kerno, sophomore Ashley Underkofler, senior Megan Patton and junior Elaina Nellis, respectively. Although Etown and Dickinson tied with 15 points each, the short course team title was ultimately given to Dickinson after a runner-by-runner comparison.
Despite missing the title by a slim margin, Cody and Tempone were more than pleased with the team’s performance. “We had a great third meet,” Cody said. “We are getting stronger each meet and it shows.”
“I think it was an all-around great race,” Tempone said. “I’m really excited and proud of the progression of our season!”
Although the format of the invitational encouraged teams to place runners in the long and short races to determine an overall invitational team winner, Coach Brian Falk had other ideas. “Philosophically I just believe in not racing too much in September,” Falk said, “so I’m running everybody in the 4ks … so all I’m looking for is some kind of visual, objective evidence that we’re better than we were two weeks ago.” By steadily improving every week, the teams will keep from peaking early in the season, giving the teams better chances at reaching regional and national meets.
Looking ahead, each team has the same objectives – winning the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship and qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships – but different obstacles stand in the way. According to Falk, six of the top eight men from last year graduated, leaving behind a young men’s team. “So far we have enough good athletes to stay competitive,” Falk said, “but we’re still not where we need to be to go back to nationals.”
Focht also realizes the challenges ahead of the team, but does not seem to be worried because of the hard work and dedication of Gresh and Rever. “They saw an opportunity where they could make the team stronger and rose to the occasion,” Focht said. “It is because of Gresh’s and Rever’s hard work that we stand a chance in qualifying for nationals as a team.”
For the women’s team, the challenges will be to keep the team healthy and to fill two spots left by veteran national qualifiers who are studying abroad. Falk sees Nellis, Tearnan and Underkofler as athletes who are stepping up to fill the holes in the team.
The teams will have one week off from competition and then head to Ohio over fall break to compete in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble at Oberlin College on Oct. 13.