Dave Hyde
All season, the Wittenberg cross country team has been paced by junior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), the first female runner in school history to ever qualify for the NCAA Division III championship meet a year ago. Two weeks after becoming the first Tiger runner to win an individual NCAC title, Gerstle bettered her personal best time to finish 9th overall at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet at Kalamazoo College with a time of 18:35.
Gerstle's finish earned her the fourth individual qualifying slot and led the Tigers to a 17th-place finish in the 33-team field. The NCAA Division III championship meet is scheduled for Nov. 17 at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.
Gerstle was followed by senior Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who had a strong run of her own, just two seconds off her personal best. Weide, who made All-NCAC for the first time in her career in 2001, finished 35th in a time of 19:17.
The other Wittenberg runner who turned in a personal best time and a top-100 finish was freshman Vanessa Tilton (Camden, Ohio/Twin Valley South), who turned in a 19:45, good for 64th.
On the men's side, Wittenberg wound up 24th in a 32-team field. Junior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) topped the team with a time of 27:22, good for 66th place overall. Senior Dave Hyde (Naperville, Ill./Central), who led the team in every event during the regular season, was next with a 114th place finish in 28:14.