Oct. 17, 2009

Team Results

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana - Ohio Cross Country competed at Pre-Nationals Saturday amongst a large competition field on the campus of Indiana State University. The races were split into two brackets, with many schools being assigned a White team and a Blue team. The Ohio men ran in the White race, which began at 11:40 am and the women followed immediately after in the Blue race at 12:20.

The men finished 35th in their 8k, with Aadam Soorma (North Canton, Oh.) finishing first for the `Cats with a time of 25:45.1. Following him was a pretty solid Bobcat pack of Dan Quarfoot, Matt Michno, Chris Davis and Cory Irwin who finished in places 206, 213, 214 and 216th, respectively. Quarfoot (Barrington, Ill.) finished with a 26:34.0, Michno (Kettering, Oh.) ran a 26:41.9, Davis (Reedsville, Oh.) clocked in at 26:43.5 and Irwin (Canal Winchester, Oh.) crossed at 26:45.8.

"It wasn't a great performance today," said head coach Clay Calkins. "We're running a young squad and the redshirts are really showing through. Hopefully this type of competition will really make them more competitive when we're in a field with familiar opposition."

The women fared about the same in their 6k Blue race, also finishing 35th. Jenielle Hunt (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led the way for the Green and White, running a 22:24.8. Like the men, the next four women's runners (Lauren Fett, Kelly O'Brien, Kristen Altenburger and Hanna Charbel) formed a pretty solid pack, finishing in places 199, 200, 204 and 209, respectively. Fett (Defiance, Oh.) finished with a 23:17.4, O'Brien (Wexford, Pa.) crossed the line at 23:18.8, Altenburger (Troy, Oh.) ran a 23:22.3 and Charbel (Vandalia, Oh.) rounded out the top five with a 23:26.6.

"On both sides there is definitely room for improvement," said Calkins. "We're going to work at it and try to get better each week."

The next meet for the Bobcats will be on October 31 when they host the Mid-American Conference Championships. Come to Athens to watch live cross country championship action!