In probably the best performance of the still-young 2001 cross country season, the Wittenberg Tiger women's team finished nineth among 19 Division III schools competing in the annual All-Ohio Championships last Friday at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware.

As usual, Wittenberg got another outstanding performance from junior co-captain Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont). Gerstle, a All-NCAC cross country and track athlete a year ago who is attempting to become the first Wittenberg runner to qualify for the national meet twice in her career, posted an NCAC-best finish of of fourth in Division III with a time of 19:42.9. She was followed closely by senior co-captain Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who was the second NCAC woman to cross the finish line. Her time of 20:03, which was good for ninth in Division III and 40th overall earned her NCAC Athlete of the Week honors.

On the men's side, senior Dave Hyde (Naperville, Ill./Central) led the team for a third straight meet, this time crossing the finish line in 39th place among Division III runners. All five Wittenberg runners finished among the top 82 competitors in the meet, propelling the Tigers to a 12th place finish among 18 Division III teams.