Cross Country Round-up: ODAC Championships
Team and Guilford Individual Standings
I apologize for the lateness of this newsletter. I have been trying to splice together some video footage of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship meet and hoped to have it ready for the Web site when I sent out the letter. Unfortunately, putting the video together has taken longer than expected, so without further delay...
Both teams performed admirably at the ODAC meet, held Oct. 27, 2007 at Washington and Lee University. Due to two days of rain, the course was soft and damp, but overall in good condition. The women's race was first and began at 11:00 a.m. Grace Normann led Quakers through the first mile, followed by Charissa Duncan, Caroline Herlehy, and Caroline Gadsby with one minute of each other. Johanna Naradzay, Emily Frenzel, and Paige McCall came through as a second pack, and Rachel Dede followed shortly after. This order stayed basically the same throughout the race. Unfortunately, Paige had difficulty and struggled to finish. Thanks to her friend, Rachel, who encouraged and assisted Paige through the last part of the race. The women placed seventh among nine teams, an improvement of one place from 2006. This year they were only 10 points out of fifth place, which is a huge improvement.
In the men's race, Chris Walker felt strong at the beginning and led the race for the first 600 meters. Chris and Jeremy Wang paired up and raced together for the next half of the race. Jeremy Bante ran third for the Quakers, followed by Leon Odell, who had his first off-day of the year. Marc Ramsay was fifth, followed by Brett McDonough, Ethan Wiley, Chad Currin and Tyler Brown. Nico de la Vega-Billingsley, who was running a strong race, took a wrong turn and did not finish the race. Overall, the men placed sixth among 10 teams, which is about where they were expected to place.
The Quakers travel to Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, this weekend to compete in the NCAA South/Southeast Regional. Regional courses are usually fast, so look for some fast times this weekend.
-Submitted by head coach Jamie LaFollette