Few times during the season are as exciting as the post
season. It is where all of our team goals and dreams lead to. Now we are
entering our final week of workouts and easy runs as we prepare to once again
compete at the NCAA national championship. This will be the 7th
consecutive season for the men and the 1st year in 5 for a women’s
team member to step back onto the national course. It is a testament to the
rich history and tradition our XC teams have to bring 9 team members to the D3
Championship meet.
NCAC
Our first stop in the post season was the North Coast
Atlantic Conference Championships. The women’s race kicked off at 11:00am and
held some great surprises for the lady Gator’s. Sophomore Kristina Martin had a
personal best of 22:25 for the 6k enroute to a 4th place finish.
Each of the ladies ahead of Kristina will also be competing individually at the
NCAA Championship meet. Junior Kelly Gallagher for the second race in a row improved
her time of 23:34 on the course. After an uphill battle with anemia for the
majority of the season, Kelly showed that she was still strong enough to be top
conference competitor. Just this week Captain Gallagher completed her season on
a positive note finishing higher in the Mid-East region than she ever has
before.
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| Senior Amber Wetzel |
Before the men’s race started, we knew we had our work cut
out for us. Finishing second to a nationally strong Wabash College, our men
battled to come within 12 points of the Little Giants. A strong pair of
performances from Kevin Edwards and Pat McLaughlin and freshmen standouts Alex
Simon and James Rynes kept the race close. Although Wabash succeeded in
snapping a 7 year championship streak we have already made it a priority to
bring home the hardware again next year as we will be returning 6 of our top 7
runners.
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| Freshmen Alex Simon and James Rynes |
NCAA Regional Championship
The best feeling for a coach is when you see your athletes
running their best when it matters the most. I couldn’t have imagined our races
last Saturday going much better than it did. Our ladies race gave our team a
buzz about the future and I think we realized that we are only one or two pieces
away from bringing the whole team to the national championship. The men’s race
shocked the region and the national polls. It hasn’t been a secret that I have
had a chip on my shoulder all year about the lack of respect that has been
shown to our men in the polls and our boys didn’t disappoint. While it is true
we replaced some of the most talented runners in our program history, I have
known all year that our team had the ability to improve upon our last season's performances.
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| Sophomore Kristina Martin |
Kristina punched her first ticket to the national meet after a spectacular 15th place finish. (7th individual overall) With a time of 23:37 on a hilly course Kristina held of a charging Swarthmore runner to be the last lady from our region to make it to NCAA’s. It has been our hope all year that if our women’s team wasn’t selected to attend the national meet we would have some of the top ladies in the region competing for the individual spots in the NCAA race. GO K-MART!!!
At the first mile I could tell Bobby was about to crush the competition. With a stellar pre-regional race/workout Bobby was prepared and ready for the awkward DeSales course. By mile two Bobby had solidified his position at the top of the pack. In a region that has 6 teams ranked nationally (2 in the top 5) we packed 3 runners into the top 11 finishers! It was exhilarating to hear all the talk about the Allegheny men near the finish line as people were watching us almost upset the #6 ranked team in the country at the time, Dickinson. The men are racing fast at the right time and the 26 weeks of prior training and thousands of miles ran by each individual is paying off for them. I was about as proud as I have ever been to be the Head Coach of Allegheny XC that day. Congrats boys!! We are headed back to the big show and it is our time to shine! All of the hard work and mileage is paying off when it matters most.
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| Men's Regional Team and Head Coach Brent Wilkerson |
