Powell, Ohio – The Men's and Women's Cross Country teams travelled back to Powell, Ohio to continue down the season's final stretch, after rounding out at the NCAC Championships this week before moving on to regional action.
The NCAC brought forth a highly competitive field during the 2018 conference championships. The women's field sported 84 runners while the men featured 98. The competition boosted the Tigers to perform well in terms of times through the morning. The women's team finished eighth of eight with 187 points while the men finished ninth of nine with 233 points.
Alexis Gray found herself atop the Wittenberg scorers with the best finish between the two squads. The veteran placed 24th overall at 24:01.1 when crossing the line. On her heels, Elizabeth Canright claimed the second position for the Tigers, crossing the line 26th overall 10 seconds behind her teammate. The freshman came through at 24:11.7, giving the rookie over a minute and a half improvement from her debut on the Powell course six weeks ago.
Freshman Lauren Welker also saw improvement in the postseason after her 24:56.4 finish, just over a minute faster than her 6k debut. Sophomore Erika Bournival finished close behind at 25:03.3 through 3.75 miles, two minutes faster than her last appearance at Ohio Wesleyan. Kate Slyh, freshman, topped the scoring Tiger five with her 25:11.9, 48th place finish.
The men boasted a 37.5 second spread through the five-mile grind, led by seniors Jersson Pachar and Charles Rodeheffer. The duo crossed line at 28:04.1 and 28:05.8 respectively. Ryan Zimmerman saw a strong improvement since the first time he travelled to Powell, moving up two minutes and 20 seconds to cross the line at 28:19.4. Cullen Sainey and Miles Caine wrapped up the Tigers' top five, coming through the finish line at 28:37.9 and 28:41.9 respectively.
Both programs make the move to the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships in two weeks' time. Franklin College hosts this year's regional competition in Shelbyville, Ind.