Marietta runs to best finish in four years at All-Ohio

Oct. 7, 2005
DELAWARE, Ohio – Since the program was reinstated in the fall of 2002, Marietta College’s cross country program has been growing, in number and in competitiveness. Also growing is the competition at the All-Ohio Championship meet hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at the Methodist Theological School and Dornoch Golf Course in Delaware, Ohio. The competition invites all the colleges in Ohio to compete in one race, regardless of division, affiliation, or size. 

"This meet is awesome, especially being from one of the smaller schools and going up against the 'big dogs'," said Derek Stanley, head coach of Marietta. "The course is challenging and the competition is tough. You cannot ask for a better scenario to test your athlete’s strength." 

The men’s team stole the attention on the day with a much improved performance than previous years. The past three years the Pioneer men have finished 35th (2002), 33rd (2003) and 34th (2004) in the overall standings and 18th (2002), 16th (2003) and 15th (2004) in the Division III standings. This year would mark another step of improvement for the men’s team.

With a cold front blowing through and the best racing weather the race has seen in over 10 years with temperature in the upper 50’s, the men toed the line at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, October 7, 2005. Clark Spears established position well early in the race and ran strong the entire 8,000 meters to record his best performance at the All-Ohio meet for his career. Spears finished in 94th place overall (26th in DIII) with a time of 28:10.2, the best finish by a Pioneer harrier since the program’s reinstatement.

Some of the men made a mistake early by getting caught in the back of the race during the first mile and were forced to move up quickly sacrificing the established rhythm. Harrison Potter was one such runner but fought back nicely for a place of 171st (70th) in a time of 29:10.6. Next in was John Hull 195th (83rd) in 29:47.5 followed by Andrew Wichie 225th (107th) in 30:53.3 and Ben Williams 231st (111th) in 31:13.1 to round out the top five.

Also running the championship race was Joseph Wynes 236th (114th) in 31:39.1 and Lyle Sulfridge 246th (120th) in 32:25.6. In the open race Kyle Hummel had his strongest performance of the year as he ran to a season personal best of 31:56.3 to earn 292nd place. Alex Lugosch (34:13.2, 333rd) and Jeremy Jusek (34:32.6, 338th) also competed in the open race. 

The women’s team, still struggling with injuries, failed to compile a team score for the second competition in a row.  The highlight of the race for the Pioneer women was the performance of Brea Gardner who comparatively ran her best race of the year finishing in 183rd place (82nd DIII), covering the 5,000 meters in 21:58.7. Jessi Larrison was next in for MC placing 231st (113th) in 23:21.8. Also running were Lyndley Dmitsak (25:52.6, 270th, 133rd) and Janelle Rodes (27:50.8, 281st, 137th). 

"The men had a good day with the best team performance since 2002 (30th overall and 14th Division III)," remarked Coach Stanley. "There is much room for improvement and when we improve we will surprise some people." 

The men and women’s cross country team will be traveling to Waynesburg College on Saturday (Oct. 15) for a 15-team invitational. Race times are 10:30 a.m. for the men’s race and 11:15 a.m. for the women’s race.  The competition is taking place at Greene County Airport off the college campus. The meet will be the final tune-up before the OAC Championship at Otterbein on Saturday, October 29.