Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Fall Classic #19 Goes Down Without A Hitch!

This post is very late and I am sorry for that.  Last Friday we hosted the 19th version of the WC Fall Classic with 36 teams competing on our course at Wilmington College.  The weather was up and down during the days leading up to the race, but mother nature backed off just in time to give us good racing conditions on October 14th.  The course was wet and a little torn up due to the SCOL High School League meet being held on our course Thursday night, but still ran very fast.  The WC girls got things started  with a 3rd place finish out of 36 teams, behind Ohio State and Findlay.  The Quaker women scored 115 points-only 10 points out of second(Findlay).  Once again the Quakers were led by Jenna Parlette and Annie Cekada who finished 4th and 6th and were the 1st two Division 3 runners across the line.  Brittany Gibbons ran a very strong race finishing 25th in 19:32.  Freshman Tricia Steffen and Senior Colleen Romeo closed out the Quaker scoring in 42 and 43.  I thought it was the best run of the year for the women, but I think we all know we still have a better performance in our team and we will show everyone at the OAC Meet!  The men had to go without our number 2 man-Myles Corcoran who was fighting bronchitis.  I challenged our men's team to see who would step and help out in Myles absence, and the men met the challenge finishing in 7th place-the 3rd Division 3 team.  The highlight of the evening was a school record 8k run by Senior Pat Carroll who finished in 25:25.  He broke Derrick Jackson's record and Derrick was at the meet to see the race-he is the Head Coach at Thomas More College!  Pats time from the Classic is his first time in the 25's and I think he can run faster at OAC's or Regionals with good weather.  Brad Kline finished 33rd with a big PR of 26:20.  The Quaker Men had Personal Record runs from 15 out of 19 athletes on the team!  I was initially worried that the Fall Classic would be smaller this year due to Oberlin hosting the pre-regional on the same weekend.  We did lose some teams that had come in the past, but we had eight new teams this year that replaced the old teams.  It wasn't our biggest field, but it was very close.  I do think it was our most competitive field.  When I think about what the Fall Classic has become it makes me very proud.  I honestly think it is one of the best one day events held on our campus.  Next year I think we can push for 40 teams at the Fall Classic!       

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fall Classic Week is Here!

Before I go into detail about the Fall Classic I wanted to let everyone know that I went on a golf outing with four members of my team last Friday.  WC had its Fall Break last weekend and we didn't have a meet, so going golfing sounded like a good idea.  I knew I was in trouble when Alek Erwin showed up without clubs and said he would share with Brad Kline.  The four of us(Pat Carroll being the 4th) terrorized Majestic Springs front 9.  I believe that 9 holes might be the longest it has ever taken me in a foursome to complete 9 holes-that will happen when people in your foursome shoot in the 70's for 9 holes.  I had actually never seen anyone hit a ball sideways but Alek pulled that feat off on hole number 7.    Fall Classic is a great week-I always look forward to this meet.  In its 19 years, it has grown from a handful of teams up to 36 competing teams this year.  The men and the women should be able to finish high with solid runs.  On the women's side watch for Ohio State(B team), Cumberland University(ranked top 25 in NAIA), MaComb Community College(Ranked #2 in National Junior College Rankings), Wittenberg(opened the year at #5 in the Great Lakes Region Poll, Wright State(D1), Findlay(D2 and won the Classic in 2010), Huntington(strong NAIA).  On the men's side watch for Ohio State(B Team), Wright State, Cumberland University, Berea(Strong NAIA), Findlay. The women's race starts at 4:30 and the men's race starts at 5:15.  We will also debut an Elementary Race this year at 6:00pm which will include 32 kids from our Junior Program that includes kindergarten through sixth grade.
  

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Quakers Battle The Weather/State of Ohio

On September 30th we took a short trip over to Cedarville University for the annual All-Ohio Championship.  The All-Ohio is always a great test(made even tougher by temps in the low 50's with rain and wind) and a chance to see where your team fits in Division III in the state of Ohio, and in the Ohio Athletic Conference.  The All-Ohio weekend always seems to be a weekend filled with craziness and the 2011 version was no different.  The men got things rolling with an 8th place finish(1 point out of 7th).  I was hoping for a top 10 and the good news is that we finished 8th with one  of our top 5 having an off day due to illness.  Pat Carroll and Myles Corcoran both finished in the top 20 to garner All-Ohio status.  Pat finished in 26:25 and was the 3rd OAC runner across the line and Myles ran 26:43 and was 8th in the OAC.  The Quaker Men were 5th out of the OAC schools.  The women followed with a 6th place finish(our best ever) in the D3 race(4th in the OAC).  Freshman Jenna Parlette finished 7th in the D3 race(2nd in the OAC) and was Awarded All-Ohio status.  The Quakers had 3 runners under 20:00 and got a great run from freshman Tricia Steffen at the number 4 spot with a P.R. of 20:14.      Highlights in the Open Race included 2 Freshman men pushing towards Varsity top 7 with Jacob Boehm running 28:53 and Jacob Simpkins ran 28:56.  Next up is the Fall Classic at Wilmington on October 14th!