Sports

Cross country competes at Lehigh

In print | October 9, 2008

This past Friday, Swarthmore’s Women’s and Men’s varsity cross country teams raced at the 35th annual Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University, where they competed against teams from schools representing a broad regional base and Divisions I, II and III. Both the men’s and women’s team put forth strong showings as the men finished 20th out of 41 teams and the women placed 8th out of 37 entries. Patrick Hartnett ’11 led the Garnet with a time of 27:09, which put him in 51st place overall. Melissa Frick ’12 led the women and finished 41st out of 260 runners with a time of 23:09.

On the men’s side, Erik Saka ’09 followed Hartnett with a 67th place finish. He was followed closely by Dan Hodson ’09, who finished the race in 75th place. Following them were Alex Fyre ’12, David Riccardi ’10, Chris Wickham ’12. In the overall competition, the men’s team earned a 20th place finish.

The girl’s team was led by Frick’s 41st place finish. Following her lead was Bess Ritter ’09, who crossed the line with a time of 23:31. Although a few girls had to miss the race due to injury and illness, which was a noticeable disadvantage for the team, the team showed good depth with a 36 second spread. “Our pack was overall quite a bit faster than last year. I think the meet was a great indication of just how strong we are this year, especially as we get more race-sharp in the next month,” Bess Ritter ’09, one of the team’s co-captains, said. Senior runners and captains Kathy Feeney, Faith Pampel, and Emma Stanley closely followed the lead. As a reflection of the team’s performance, “the top five girls finished within 37 seconds of each other, which is outrageously awesome,” captain Kathy Feeney ‘09 said. The race on Friday was especially impressive considering the difficulty that the past two weeks had brought the team after an accident involving one of their teammates, Mairin Din ’12. Din collided with a vehicle while cycling near the campus on Oct. 1. Her injury has been emotionally devastating for the both women’s and men’s team. Despite such unfortunate event, the Garnet channeled a lot of hope and optimism, bringing them closer as a team. “I know I had Mairin in my thoughts during the race on Friday. For me, it’s easier to pull through the finish when you’re running for something greater than yourself,” Kathy Feeney said.

The Garnet’s performance on Friday demonstrates the team spirit they strive for: a uniquely solid bond as teammates and as friends. “We work through our races together. I think our performance on Friday proves this. Not only did everyone run either negative mile splits or faster than what our coaches projected for us, but out of nearly forty teams in the race, we had the smallest spread (the span of time in which your first five runners crossthe line),” Faith Pampel ’09, a co-captain, said.

The women’s team will compete next in Seven Sisters at Smith College at the end of fall break. The men’s team will race at the DeSales University Invitational on Oct. 11.