This past weekend we competed at Oberlin. Coach Appenheimer and his staff put on a great meet. This is a meet a plan to support as long as I am at Baldwin Wallace. On the guys side we had a solid day. We had 13 out of 14 run seasons best, some were minutes faster, and we had about the same amount run life time bests. Sophomore All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC runner Brian Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) led the way as he finished 23rd of 273 runners in a time of 24:52.3. He beat a few key people from conference schools that beat him at All-Ohio two weeks ago. That alone is more important to me that him running a big PR. I also think it sets him up well for OAC's on Halloween.
Next across the line for the Jackets was senior two-time All-Ohio runner Greg Blevins (Mentor) placed 106th in a time of 25:53.9. This was Greg's second race back after having foot surgery last year. He has made huge strides forward each week and I am excited to see what he can do after 2 more weeks of training going into OAC's
Sophomore Evan Milovich (Westlake) finished 129th with a time of 26:13.2. Even gave us a much needed shot in the arm. He had to sit out All-Ohio due to tweaking his calf earlier that week. Having him back 100% and running well was huge for the team.
Freshmen Creighton Jensen (Sheffield Lake/Brookside) was 174th in a time of 26:51.4. Creighton continues to impress me with his tenacity on the race course. He is one heck of a competitor. He is another that keeps improving week after week. Having the consistency he has show will be huge at conference. Rounding out the scoring for the guys was sophomore Brady Jeffers (South Amherst/Firelands) finished in 181st place with a time of 26:55.0. Brady has had some good solid workouts and is coming along but has yet to make the big breakthrough I know he is capable of. When it clicks for him our team will be a lot better. He continues to improve but has yet to put it all together.
Rounding out the top 7 was Freshman Todd Cushing who ran 26:58 and Senior Aaron Long, 27:15. Both ran very solid races and added some nice depth to the team.
Dylan Tanner- 27:21, Phil Spronz- 27:25, Alex Fuhrmann- 27:34, Spencer Mahon- 27:44, Justin Swords- 27:57, Cullen Grude- 28:30, Jason Young- 31:16. As you can see we are going to have a inter-team battle for the final few spots to go to regional's. OAC's should be a heck of a meet for us.
I was very pleased with how well the women raced and competed. We had several people who not only ran 6k PR's but also 5k PR's enroute to their 6K.We finished 18th of 29 teams with 569 points. Looking at things going into the meet, I had us projected to score about 652 points. So we ran well ahead of my expectations. We were missing two of our girls, and when you only have 7 to start the season that can be a hard pill to swallow. We are hoping to have both of them back by conference time.
Freshman Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) continued led the way as she placed eighth of 244 runners in a time of 21:41.7. She came through 5k in 18:08. Her 5k PR last year was 20:10. She followed up an impressive run at All-Ohio with an even more impressive race this weekend. She is on a trajectory to have a shot at qualifying for Nationals as an individual in 4 weeks if she can stay consistent with her training.
Freshman Hannah Fredriksen (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished 101st with a time of 23:20.4. This was another big step forward for Hannah, she also broke her High School 5k PR, from her Sophmore year, enroute to her 6K PR. Hannah has stepped up big and run well when we have needed her.
Sophomore Maeve Christie (Lakewood) placed 109th with a time of 23:29.3. Maeve ran right around the same time she ran at All-Ohio. She has been a little inconsistent, but has been working very hard and is someone who I feel can pull it all together at Conference and help make a huge impact.
Junior Alivia Stephan (Carey) was 214th with a time of 26:30.9 has been coming on very strong and is someone I am very excited to see what she can do in a few weeks. Sophomore Bailee D'Amore (McDonald) rounded out the girls scoring. She finished 242nd with a time of 28:44.5. This was another strong step forward for Bailee.
We are back in action on Saturday, October 31 at home for the 2015 Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Wallace Lake in the Mill Stream Run Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks at 11 a.m. We only get to host this meet once every 9 or so years. We have put in a lot of miles on the course and I am excited to see what we can do.
