The men’s and women team turned in another strong set of races for DePauw in the Indiana Intercollegiate Championships this past Friday.
Senior Heather O’Brien led the women’s team with a time of 19:20.8, which was good for an 8th place finish in the 5k race. Junior Claudia Monnett (19:38.8) and freshman Megan Ozog (19:50.5) weren’t far behind, as they placed 14th and 16th respectively. Junior Becca Conley (20:36.7) finished 39th, followed closely by freshman Sarah Selzer (20:49.0), who came in 45th.
“One of our big goals right now is decreasing the gap between our number one to number five runners, and we decreased that gap by more than ten seconds from Calvin to the Indiana Intercollegiate meet so that was awesome to see,” said O’Brien.
The men were led by freshmen Zach Batt (27:01.5), who placed 10th overall among 123 runners. Freshman Paul Christian was second for the Tigers, finishing 29th with a 27:50.4. Next was junior Brad Wise (49th, 28:30), followed by seniors Paul Watts (50th, 28:31.8) and Brian Mincks (53rd, 28:36.4) to round out the top five finishes for the men as they placed 7th out of 19 teams.
Despite the strong results, the Tigers throughout the race faced the challenge of a tougher course in comparison to the mostly flat trails the teams ran at Calvin.
“All of it except for the first 1k of the 5k race (was) at a slight incline, so it really (took) a toll on your legs,” said O’Brien. “The conditions were (also) extremely hot and humid, so it’s always tough to perform your best in the heat.”
Head coach Kori Stoffregen agreed.
“I thought both teams were very solid, especially since we are ending a very difficult training cycle and had raced three weeks in a row,” Kori Stoffregen. “We are looking forward to our races in October when we have some fresh legs.”
The team’s next meet will come in two weeks at the Greater Louisville Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky.