** For all 2015 NCAC Cross Country Championship information, visit the Championship Homepage. OBERLIN, Ohio – Oberlin college men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Gambier, Ohio, on Friday to compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships and begin the final stretch of the 2015 schedule.
Heading into the weekend, the Yeomen were recently pegged as the 35
th best team in the country by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Meanwhile, the Yeowomen head to Gambier to defend their conference crown for an unprecedented seventh consecutive time.
The 2015 Oberlin men are led by seniors;
Geno Arthur,
Joshua Urso,
Samuel Coates-Finke,
Robert Moreton and juniors
E.J. Douglass and
Bradley Hamilton, while first-years
Grant Sheely and
Ben Gilvar-Parke round out the Yeomen bunch.
The men have steadily gained momentum heading toward November, which will be key to their success at the Conference Championship and Great Lake Regional.
"Using the confidence they gained from the Rumble will be key to the men's success in the coming month, said decorated head coach
Ray Appenheimer. "We seem to be peaking at the right time and hopefully through workouts, the team is gaining the confidence they will need to compete with the likes of a Wabash and Allegheny."
A 2014 NCAA All-American, Arthur has remained unbeaten in 2015 and simply dominated every field he has ran against this fall. After winning the Inter-Regional Rumble in a course record time, and becoming the first Yeoman to be crowned men's 8k champion, the Camarillo, California, native is hungry to return to the stage at Nationals.
En route to winning the Rumble, Arthur legged out NCAC foe Logan Steiner of Allegheny and the two are sure to battle it out for supremacy again at the conference meet.
Urso and Douglass had quality runs at the Rumble on October 17, finishing 43
rd and 17
th respectively. Coates-Finke has been nursing an injury for the past two weeks and missed competition throughout October, but is fit and ready for a return at Conference. Moreton has composed a solid 2015 campaign thus far and will be a crucial cog in the Yeomen's championship run.
To this point, Sheely and Gilvar-Parke have ran well in their first-year and junior
Bradley Hamilton could also be in the scoring mix as he's coming off of a 26:17.0 performance on the 17
th.
"We are as good as we have ever been on the men's side and if we run well, we can finish safely as the third place team, but we are not racing for third. There is no point running for third. If we get after it early, run with confidence, and stay tough through the last two or three miles, I like our chances," said the Oberlin skipper.
The women have been led by senior stud
Sarel Loewus this fall and she ran to a sixth place finish at the Rumble. Promising second-year
Sarah Urso is also riding a high with a strong 25
th place finish two weeks ago, while junior
Emily Curley helped guide the Yeowomen to a third place finish with a run of 22:31.1.
"The women face a similar situation as they men," said Appenheimer. "The team turned a huge corner at the Rumble, particularly our first-years who really stepped up.
First-years
Linnea Halsten,
Abigail Bellows and
Vanessa LoChirco hit their stride with 47
th, 48
th and 60
th place finishes on the 17
th and will look to build on their early season success with a powerful finish on Halloween.
"I attribute the recent success of our first-year women to the team's leadership. The team captains and upperclassmen all do a really good job managing the expectations, energy and time of the first-years."
Oberlin men's and women's cross country teams head to Gambier on Friday to get a practice run on their respective course. Both squads already ran the trek earlier in the year at the Kenyon College Invite back in week two on September 12.
"We are very fortunate to have ran at Kenyon in September and we will be back to jog the course on Friday," said Appenheimer. "A lot of confidence comes from familiarity, so we planned our schedule with that in mind. We will know when the turns are coming, where elevation changes are, where to avoid the mud patches. Even though we are not game planning around those elements, our athletes have that knowledge, which builds confidence on race day."
The Yeomen and Yeowomen embark of Friday afternoon towards Gambier for racing on Saturday. The first gun goes off at 11 a.m. kickoff the 2015 NCAC Cross Country Championships with the running of the women's 6k. The men will hit the 8k course at 11:45 a.m.
Any Oberlin sports fan wishing to travel to Gambier, Ohio to support of the cross country team live, in-person, be sure to catch a seat on the Fan Bus. The Fan Bus will ship out from Philips Gymnasium at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Follow the link below to reserve your seat today!
Fan Bus Sign-up #GoYeo
