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2002 Cross Country News Releases
November 26, 2002
Senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) finished 54th in the NCAA Division III National Championship meet last weekend at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. She ran the course in a time of 22:49, and she moved up more than 30 spots from last year. This is the third consecutive year in which Gerstle qualified for the national meet, adding to her long list of accomplishments. Gerstle was the first Wittenberg female to make the national meet when she advanced in 2000, the first Tiger runner to make it two times when she qualified in 2001 and, of course, broke new ground when she advanced to this weekend’s meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. In addition, Gerstle was the first Wittenberg runner, male of female, to capture first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2001. She repeated that feat this year. Next: Season Complete November 19, 2002
Senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship meet for a third straight year by finishing ninth in the region and grabbing one of five individual berths in the national meet. In order to do this, Gerstle had to run a personal best and school record time of 22:37 and pass a runner from Mount Union with about 200 meters to go. This is the third consecutive year in which Gerstle qualified for the national meet, adding to her long list of accomplishments. Gerstle was the first Wittenberg female to make the national meet when she advanced in 2000, the first Tiger runner to make it two times when she qualified in 2001 and, of course, broke new ground when she advanced to this weekend’s meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. In addition, Gerstle was the first Wittenberg runner, male of female, to capture first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2001. She repeated that feat this year. Other female runners to finish with personal best times were freshman Tracy Butler (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) in 24:03, junior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) in 24:17, sophomore Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) in 25:49, junior Lindsay Veit (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota) in 26:09 and junior Nikki Norcia (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) in 26:33. Wittenberg finished 16th in the 33-team field. On the men’s side, senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) led the way with a 94th-place finish in a season-best 27:29. Junior Tim Damopoulos (London, Ohio/London) had a season-best in 28:13 and freshman Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) had a personal best in 28:28. The Tigers finished 26th among men’s teams. Next: 11/23 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships at Ada, Ohio November 12, 2002
Senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) has been the Tigers’ top finisher on the men’s team all season. He will be looking to move up from his 29th place finish at the NCAC meet. Next: 11/16 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships at Ada, Ohio November 5, 2002
Senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) took home the the individual NCAC women’s cross country title for a second straight year, but it wasn’t enought to bring victory to Wittenberg in the team standings. Her time of 18:46 was more than five seconds faster than the rest of the field. Overall, the women finished seventh of nine teams as Allegheny took the women’s title. Gerstle wasn’t the only Tiger runner to post one of her best times of the season as freshmen Sarah Gearhart (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) and Tracy Butler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) all neared their career bests for a five-kilometer race and junior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) turned in a personal best. The men didn’t finished ninth of 10 teams, with senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) the highest place finisher, coming in 29th with a time of 27:34. His time was one second short of the season best for an eight-kilometer event. Next: 11/16 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships at Ada, Ohio October 29, 2002 Wittenberg plays host to the 19th annual NCAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday at John Bryan State Park near Yellow Springs. This will be the second race this season that Wittenberg has hosted at picturesque John Bryan State Park, following the successful Wittenberg Invitational on September 7. Nineteen teams will compete in the conference championship meet, including men’s and women’s teams from member schools Allegheny, Denison, Oberlin, Kenyon, Earlham, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram and Wittenberg and the men’s team from Wabash. Races start at 11 a.m. for the men, who run eight kilometers, and noon for the women who run five kilometers. There will be a presentation for the award winners at 1 p.m. Kenyon won both the men’s and women’s team competitions a year ago. In a preseason poll of the NCAC cross country coaches, the Kenyon men were picked to repeat as champions, while the women were predicted to finish in second behind the coaches’ unanimous choice, Allegheny. The Gators were picked to finish second in the men’s race, followed by Wooster and Wabash. On the women’s side, Denison was tabbed third, followed by Oberlin and Wooster. So far this season, Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) has been Wittenberg’s top finisher in all but two races this season. For the women Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) has taken the plaudits by leading the squad each week, and she is the top returning runner in the NCAC overall. In 2001, Gerstle became the first Wittenberg runner, male or female, to win an individual conference championship and Runner of the Year honors. Click here for more information. Next: 11/2 NCAC Championships @ John Bryan State Park (Hosted by Wittenberg) October 22, 2002
A final tune-up before the stretch run of the 2002 men’s and women’s cross country season was run last weekend at Ohio Northern University, where the Tigers got a lot of strong individual performances. In leading the team to a seventh place finish, senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) won the meet, covering the six kilometers in a course-record and personal-best time of 22:41. Gerstle, who was named NCAC Athlete of the Week for a second time in 2002 as a result of her victory at ONU, appears to be in great shape to defend her 2001 NCAC championship and make a third consecutive run to the NCAA Division III championship meet, scheduled for Nov. 23 in Northfield, Minn. The regional meet, which is Nov. 16, will be run at Ohio Northern’s course. While the rest of the Tiger runners didn’t have first-place ribbons to show for their efforts, several did turn in personal-best performances, including: freshmen Tracy Butler (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) and Sarah Gearhart (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), sophomore Lindsay Veit (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East), Melissa Moser (Galion, Ohio/Galion) and Hillary Brotzman (Madison, Ohio/The Andrews School), and juniors Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) and Nikki Norcia (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick). For the men, Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) was the top finisher in 46th place with a season-best time of 27:32 for the eight-kilometer course. Men with personal bests were freshmen Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield), Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), Adam Majot (Coudersport, Pa./Senior) and Chris Knapp (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls), sophomore Chad Kresser (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay), juniors Jeff Domingus (London, Ohio/London) and Mike Henderson (Berea, Ohio/Berea) and senior Nate Henderson (Kettering, Ohio/Dayton Carroll). Other with season-best times were juniors Alan Gustafson (Newark, Ohio/Newark) and Andrew Hobson (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). Next: 11/2 NCAC Championships @ John Bryan State Park (Hosted by Wittenberg) October 15, 2002
Leading the charge at the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan was senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), who finished second among runners from the North Coast Athletic Conference and seventh overall among Division III runners. Freshman Tracy Butler (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) was next for the Tigers with a 37th place finish, followed by junior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall), who wound up 67th. On the men’s side, senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) led the way as usual, this time turning in a 65th-place finish. Freshman Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) was 71st, freshman John Compton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) was 79th and freshman Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) finished 80th. Next: 10/19 @ Ohio Northern October 8, 2002
Leading the way for the women's team was senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), who appears to be rounding into form even earlier this year than she did in 2001, when she won the NCAC individual championship. Gerstle finished 48th in the competition and was one of nine women's runners to post a season-best time at Loyola. Among the other runners who posted strong finishes was junior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall), who dropped her time by more than two minutes. On the men's side, six runners posted season-best times for an 8,000 meter race. Senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) wasn't one of them, but he did lead the team with a 223rd place finish in a field of more than 500 runners as part of 45 teams, many of them Division I and II schools. The Tigers are back in action this weekend at the All-Ohio Invitational hosted by Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio. This is another opportunity for Wittenberg runners to take on teams and runners from schools in other divisions as almost every college in the state participates. Next: 10/11 at All-Ohio Invitational - hosted by Ohio Wesleyan September 17, 2002
On the men’s side, the Tigers finished sixth in a field that didn’t include another Division III team. Senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) led the way for the Tigers with a 29th-place finish in a season-best time of 28:04.82. Freshman John Compton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) were next with finishes of 34th and 35th. Both runners posted personal best times as they adjust to the longer courses used by collegiate athletes. Junior Tim Damopoulos (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) claimed 37th in a season-best time of 29:15.25 and freshman Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) rounded out Wittenberg’s scorers with a 39th place finish, also in a personal-best time. On the women’s side, senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) was in her customary position in front of the Tiger pack. She put up a time of 19:21.29, a 20-second drop from the previous week when she posted a then-course record. Gerstle placed ninth and led the Tigers to a sixth-place finish as a team in a field devoid of other Division III teams. Sophomore Lindsay Veit (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) was next for the Tigers with a 26th-place finish in a personal best time of 21:15.38. Freshman Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) finished 33rd, sophomore Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) wound up 35th and junior Libby Weaver (Portland, Ind./Jay County) took 39th to round out the team’s top five scorers. The Tigers are off the next two weekends before making their annual trek to the huge Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Oct. 5. Next: 10/5 at Loyola (Ill.) Lakefront Invitational September 10, 2002
On the men's side, freshman Caleb Arnold (Enon, Ohio/Greenon) has emerged as the team's front-runner in both races, turning in times of 17:11 in the 5K race at UD and 28:36 in the 8,000-meter race hosted by Wittenberg. He finished 15th at UD and 11th at Wittenberg. Right behind Arnold is senior Nick Dewald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior), the team's No. 1 or 2 runner each of the last years. He finished 20th at UD in a time of 17:55 and 12th at Wittenberg in 28:47. At each meet, the next three men's finishers, in various order, have been freshman John Compton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), freshman Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) and junior Tim Damopoulos (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City). On the women's side, a familiar face is once again leading the Tiger pack. Senior Abi Gerstle (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), fresh off back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division III national championship meet the last two years, was the team's leading finisher at the University of Dayton and then set a course record of 19:44 at the Wittenberg Invitational. She defeated all challengers in the Wittenberg meet by at least eight seconds, including several runners expected to challenge for her 2001 NCAC individual title. In recognition of her outstanding performance in finishing first at the Wittenberg Invitational, Gerstle was named NCAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week. Following Gerstle in both meets was freshman Tracy Butler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who turned in a time of 20:39 at the Wittenberg Invitational, good for eight place. Freshman Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) and sophomore Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) have turned in top-five scoring times for the Tigers in each meet as well. Next: 9/14 at Cedarville Friendship Invitational Men's Cross Country Home Page Women's Cross Country Home Page |
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