Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble

October 16th was a beautiful sunny day and the Oberlin Invitational was held on a dry course, the first of the season for the Allegheny Gators.  Competition looked fierce, 6 nationally ranked men's team and 3 nationally ranked women's teams were participating. 
On the men's side, the Gators were led by the effort of Chris Marker who finished in 2nd place, a step behind Ben Sathre (St. Thomas, Minn.), in 24:47.  A sinus infection ladened Jeramie Parker pushed through his illness and finished in a respectable 25:06, placing him 7th.  Ryan Sullivan was the next Gator across the line who finished in 11th place with a time of 25:29.  Zac Ross (25:38) and Pat McLaughlin (25:50) rounded out the scorers in 19th and 27th place, respectively.  Teamwise the gators finished first with 66 points well ahead of 2nd place Elizabethtown's 130 points. While a subpar day for the Gators, thoughts are still positive as they head into the championship season.
The women's team was led by the effort of sophomore Kelly Gallagher, who finished in 11th place with a personal best time of 22:35 over the 6k course. Freshman Kristina Martin finished in 19th place with a career best time of 22:46. Senior Katie Stancik was 37th in a time of 23:10.  Amber Wetzel (23:48) and Sara Mitrano (23:56) were the final two scorers in 71st and 73rd place.  The team finished in 9th place with 214 points.  Case Western (83 points), Rhodes (117 points), and Grove City (160 points) rounded out with the top 3 teams.
Next up for the Gators is the NCAC Championship at Wabash College on October 30th.

Bill Sudeck Classic

This past Saturday down on the farm just outside of Cleveland, Ohio the men's and women's cross country teams started their seasons at Case Western Reserve's Bill Sudeck Classic.  A change of weather from previous years, from extreme heat to a torrential downpour, 50 degree weather, and wind gusts up to 40 mph, upped the stakes for all runners in the race.  The Gator Men entered the race with the intention of remaining relaxed and packing up until the last mile where they could challenge themselves and each other to see who had the fastest finish.  The front pack of Chris Marker, Jeramie Parker, and Pat McLaughlin separated themselves from the rest of the crowd at the 2nd half and finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively.  Zac Ross and Mike Vlah rounded out the scorers for the Gators finishing in 6th and 7th place.  The team score for the Gators was a mere 19 points, as they won the Bill Sudeck Classic for the first time in Allegheny history.  More impressive was the spread from the first gator to the 5th which was only 22 seconds.  Case Western Reserve was 2nd with 44 points.
The Lady Gators remained stubborn despite the loss of top 5 runner Samantha Zink due to illness moments before the race.  Kelly Gallagher led the way for the Gators, placing 4th overall.  6th and 7th place belonged to Kristina Martin and Katie Stancik who followed shortly after Gallagher.  The next runner for the Lady Gators was Amber Wetzel in 23rd place.  Laura Heltman closed out the scorers for the Gators in 42nd place.  In the team score, Nationally ranked Case Western (23rd) and Baldwin-Wallace (29th) claimed the top two spots with 34 points and 61 points, respectively.  Impressively, the Allegheny women took the 3rd spot with 69 points, even without the aid of Zink.
The next meet for both teams is the Pre-Regional race at Cooper's Lake in Slippery Rock, PA at the end of September.

New Beginnings

A new year begins with high hopes for the Men's and Women's Cross Country programs of Allegheny College.  An end of an era with the move of Coach Ross to an administrator position and the hiring of a young coaching staff led by Coach Brent Wilkerson.  But the business still remains the same.  On the men's side, the lack of eligability of All-American Tony Dipre and the graduation of Jakeb Zimmerman opens the door for younger runners, such as Pat McLaughlin, Mike Vlah, and Ryan Sullivan, to prove themselves and improve on the legacy they have been left.  The return of the All-American duo, Chris Marker and Jeramie Parker, sets the tone for the rest of the squad as they look to improve upon their individual and team finish from last year.  The NCAA coaches poll also happens to agree with the teams potential, ranking the Men's team 3rd behind Washington University (St. Louis) and last year's team champion, North Central College.
The woman's team looks to repair the loss of NCAA individual qualifier, Mia Symoniak, and set the pace for years to come.  A solid top three have emerged led by Kelly Gallagher, Katie Stancik, and freshman Kristina Martin.  The next pack of Sam Zink, Amber Wetzel, Lindsay Pugh, and Laura Heltman, look to shorten the distance between their pack and the front, as they continue to improve throughout the year and rebuild from last years injuries. 
The season is long and uncertain, but the confidence from each of these teams make it seem a little more assured.  Keep an eye at Allegheny's sport's homepage at http://www.alleghenysports.com/ as the Gators race their first of the season this saturday at Case Western Reserve.
Also, check out the Men's season preview here: Season Preview
and the Women's season preview here: Women's Preview

Bucknell Bison Classic

 The Bucknell Bison Classic is known by the gators as a magical weekend that always produces great results.  This weekend was no different.  On the women's side, the lady gators were lead by Mia Symoniak and Lauren Butler.  Mia ran a national provisional qualifying time in the 10k, with a time of 36:14.62.  This time places her 8th on the national qualifiers list.  Lauren Butler threw the javelin the distance of 140-07 feet which placed her 2nd at the meet and 4th on the NCAA qualifiers list.  Butler also threw the shot put 39-01.25 at the meet.  Also running the 10k was freshman Kelly Gallagher, her first attempt at the distance allotted her with a time of 38:26.51.  Katie Stancik won her section of the 5,000 meter run with a time of 18:20.01.  Holly Wilson continued her strong stretch of long and triple hops, jumping 15-10.5 and 35-01.25 in the long and triple jumps, respectively.  Sam Zink was the only girls mid distance runner, doubling in the 800 and the 1500 meter runs with times of 2:22.43 and 5:01.74, respectively.  In the sprints, the dynamic duo of Rebecca Lendyak and Beth Muller doubled in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.  Becca finished the 100 with a time of 13.10 and the 200 with a time of 27.14.  Muller sprinted her way to a 12.83 second finish in the 100 and a 26.53 second finish in the 200.

On the mens side, which was not as deep as the womens, featured some season bests and national qualifying times.  Chris Marker led the way with a 14:37.52 finish in the 5,000 which qualified him for the NCAA meet at the end of the year and he is currently 10th on the list.  Ryan Hanson was also in the race and finished with a time of 15:10.32.  Pat McLaughlin finished his first 10k of the year with a time of 31:04.  Matthew Brush continues to improve in the steeplechase finishing with a time of 9:39.5.  Taylor "the Jet" Throckmorton ran well in both the 200 and the 400 at the meet, running 22.87 in the 200 and a season best of 49.75 in the 400.  The ever consistent Andrew Mahone finished the 800, once again, in 1:55.76.  Both Benjamin Eyer and Mike Vlah ran in the 800 as well as the 1500.  Eyer finished the 800 in a PR of 1:56.62 and came back in the 1500 with a time of 4:01.28.  Vlah ran a solid 800 finishing in 1:57.44, but the double proved to be a difficult beast as Vlah faded to a 4:12.01 in the 1500.
The gators will take those who did not compete at the Bucknell Bison Classic to IUP next weekend and hopefully produce some similar results.

W&J April 3rd, 2010

On April 3rd, the whole gators squad trekked down to Washington, PA to compete at Washington and Jefferson.  On the women's side, the meet yielded few suprises as it is still early in the year.  Lauren Butler finished first, second, and third in the javelin (129-10), shot put (40-03.25), and hammer (122-00) throws, respectively. Teammate Kristen Collins finished 6th in the discus (105-08), 7th in the shot put (33-02.00), and 4th in the hammer (114-09).  Also on the field half of track and field, Freshman Holly Wilson hopped her way to 4th place in the triple jump with a jump of 33-05.25. On the track, Beth Muller and Rebecca Lendyak placed 3rd and 4th in the 400 meter dash with times of 59.22 and 1:00.26, respectively.  They also went 3-4 in the 200 meter dash as well.  The women's 4x100 meter relay placed second overall with a time of 51.92.  In the distance events, Katie Stancik and Sara Matrano finished in 2nd and 3rd with times of 4:58.13 and 4:59.47, respectively.  Freshman Kelly Gallagher won her first collegiate race in the 5000 meter run, winning by over a minute, in 19:01.36.
The men's side showed a selective field of gators.  Dante Briscoe won the triple jump with a leap of 42-11.50.  Jakeb Zimmerman placed 2nd in the 10,000 meter and Garrett Gleeson was 4th, despite the extreme heat.  Matthew Brush finshed 2nd to All-American Dee Salukombo from Denison in the 3000 meter steeplechase.  Benjamin Richard Eyer won the 1500 meter sprint with a time of 4:02.82.  Taylor "catch me if you can" Throckmorton finished 2nd place overall in the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.83.  Andrew Mahone continued to build on his 800 speed and raced his way to 3rd with a time of 1:56.12.

In team results, the women tied for 1st place with Waynesburg and the men placed 4th overall.

The gators look forward to taking a select crew to the Bucknell Bison Classic, known for it's fast times over the past few years, next weekend.

Spring Break!

This past week was spring break on Allegheny's campus.  Every other year the gators take a week long trip out to San Diego and compete at the sea-side track at Point Loma.  Unfortunately for the sun-starved gators, this was not one of those years.  But Coach Ross, determined to allow his team to receive their daily dose of Vitamin D via the sun, arranged for a trip in sunny Virginia at Washington & Lee in historic Lexington, Virginia.  The first day of competition, the gators started off on the right foot (pun intended).  The only two Allegheny women who decided to come on the trip both competed in the javelin throw.  Emily Norton, a typical multi-event athlete, threw 62 ft 4 inches, which placed her 15th overall.  Lauren Butler, an All-American in the event last year, threw 137 ft 1 inch, a foot off of her personal best throw all time.  This distance placed her first overall, setting a meet record, and places her 3rd overall on the NCAA qualifying list.  The next day, both of these women competed in the shot put event.  Norton placed 28th overall with a heave of 22 feet 03 inches, and Butler placed 4th overall with a toss of 38 feet 1.5 inches. 
For the men on the first night, it was a night of PR's.  Andrew Mahone and Michael Vlah both ran PR's in the 1500 meter run, running 4:01.93 and 4:02.11, placing 11th and 12th overall in a grueling heat where the race was determined by a strong kick by Mahone.  Benjamin Eyer raced his way in the fast heat to a 4:01.38, while his brother, Gregory, in an earlier heat, finished with a time of 4:15.27.  Next was the 5k.  In the first heat, Mike Faix led the way, finishing with a time of 15:59.72, breaking the 16 minute barrier with a strong kick.  Next across the line for the gators was Brennan "Hammies" Hamilton, finishing with a time of 16:15.55.  And Steve "El Diablo" Cottington, crushing his previous PR by 20 some seconds, finished with a time of 17:00.53, barely missing his goal of breaking 17 minutes.  The next heat featured Christopher Marker, a 2 time All-American, and Patrick McLaughlin.  Christopher finished in 1st place overall, crushing the meet record, with a NCAA provisional time of 14:45.58, placing him 2nd on the NCAA qualifying list.  And Pat McLaughlin finished in a PR of 15:16.08 with a strong finish.  The final race of the night, Ryan "Rupert" Sullivan, in a grinding 10,000 meter run, finished in 3rd place overall, his first time running this race, with a time of 31:54.63. 
The next day featured the field events of Darryl Overton, throwing the discuss 107 feet 5 inches and the shot put 38 feet 2 inches, placing 25th and 27th overall, respectively.  On the track, Tim Hasset raced his way to 15th place overall in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 17.35.  The gator men had a significant amount of bodies in the 800 meter run as well.  First up was Jack Conant, with a time of 2:05.00, placing 41st.  Next was Greg Eyer, placing 36th with a time of 2:02.90.  His brother, Ben, was next on the list, placing 12th overall, with a time of 1:57.81.  Mike Vlah, leading his heat from start and almost to the finish, placed 9th overall with a solid PR of 1:57.17.  Andrew Mahone, having to take over the lead after a very slow first lap in :58 seconds, pushed the pace to finish 2nd in his heat (3rd overall), with a time of 1:55.48.
All-in-all, the meet at W&L was a memorable one filled with personal records, fast times, and even better, the best of times with other teammates.

Post Season Wrap-Up

The end of indoor.  No more indoor lung.  No more sharp-turn 200 meter tracks.  No more snow.  Time for outdoor.

The end of the indoor season ended with a bang on the mens side.  Tony Dipre set the conference and stadium record with his 4:10.84 mile time in the NCAC race, taking the lead with 600 meters to go and rolling his way to a win.  The time was also an automatic time for the national meet.  Dipre was also a part of the winning DMR squad, along with Freshman Mike Vlah, Alex Gorski, and Christopher Marker.  Chris Marker was also the winner of the 5000 meter run, repeating his performance from last year, with a time of 15:08.37.  Andrew Mahone also had a stellar meet, running prelims of the 800 in 1:56.16, which got him into the finals.  He then came back the very next day to run 1:55.33 which placed him 2nd overall.  Dante Briscoe, who had just finished his basketball season, took 3rd in the high jump and 2nd in the triple jump. The mens team, despite having multiple injuries, and no one running in the sprints, placed 3rd overall behind Ohio Wesleyan University and Wabash College.

At the national meet, the DMR missed out making it into the meet by less than half a second and so it was only Tony Dipre left to represent the gators.  And he did.  Tony cruised his way in prelims, winning his heat and garnering himself a position in the final.  Dipre led the mens mile final until the last 400 meters when, eventual winner, Nick Guarino passed him.  Dipre fought back as 2 more men passed him with 200 meters to go, and he finished in an All-American 3rd place.

On the Womens side, Mia Symoniak was the highlight of the meet.  Mia ran to a conference win, a huge PR, a conference and school record, with a time of 17:19.82, which afforded her a place to the national meet.  Freshman Holly Wilson showed her hops in the Long and Triple jumps, as she finished 4th and 2nd, respectively.  Beth Muller showed herself strong in sprints, finishing 1st in both the 55 and 200 meter dashes, and 2nd in the 400 meter dash, as well.  Lauren Butler continued a strong indoor season, winning the shot put by over a foot with a throw of 41-09.75.  The women's team also finished 3rd.

At the national meet, Mia Symoniak represented the lady gators well.  She hung on tough to the lead pack for two miles, going through the 3k in a PR, but the pace proved to be too much and she finished in 12th place in 17:44.39.

Kent State Tune-Up

Followers of track and field know that in this sport, it's not always the place that matters most, it is the time.  Especially when there is such intermingling between divisions.  Track and field is such a fortunate sport where division III is able to compete against division I and division II schools because it is such an individual sport, where the harder you work, the faster, or stronger, you will become regardless of division. 
This weekend, the Allegheny Gator men took advantage of superb competition and an oversized track and raced to their potential.  Highlighting the meet was Andrew Mahone (class of 2011) in his 1:55.23 800 meter race which broke the indoor school record of 1:56.13 set in 2007. 
Tony Dipre started strong in the 3000 meter run and finished a mere 4 seconds off the school record in 8:25.70, which placed him 3rd overall.  Ryan Hanson followed shortly after in 8:45.19.
Benjamin Eyer led a strong troop of milers in 4:20.21, a new PR and 8th place, and finished a great double with an 800 time of 1:57.5, also a new PR.  Zac Ross and Mike Vlah, each also running the mile/800 double, finishing in (4:21.70 / 2:01.59) and (4:24.96 / 2:02.9), respectively.
Christopher Marker, an outdoor all-american in the 5000 meter race, ran his first race of the indoor season after overcoming a knee injury in 15:21.04 for the 5000 meter, which placed him 9th overall.  Ryan Sullivan and Pat McLaughlin also ran the 5000 meter and both of them set PRs in 15:29.88 and 15:32.72, respectively.
Also, Taylor "the rocket" Throckmorton sharpened his legs for the upcoming NCAC meet and ran a 50.20 400 meter race.
The Lady Gators also ran well, setting themselves up well going into the week before the NCAC meet.  Mia Symoniak and Kelly Gallagher each ran the 3000 meter race.  Symoniak finished strong in 10:22.01 in 5th place, while Gallagher, continuing her strong freshman year, finished in a PR of 10:51.59 in 19th place.  Samantha Zink raced her way to an 11th place finish in 3:04.85 in the 1000 meter race and doubled strong with the 800 meter race in 14th place with a time of 2:22.15. 
On the field, Lauren Butler launched the shot put 39 feet, 5 3/4 inches, placing her 11th place. While Holly Wilson steadily improving throughout her freshman year, took 15th place overall in the triple jump with a distance of 33-3 1/4.
The majority of the Gators are looking forward to a down weekend to rest up before the conference meet at Denison University on 3/5-3/6, while the men's DMR is looking to improve on their time and secure a spot on the national qualifing list at Anderson University this upcoming weekend.

Boston Valentine Invite

There is no better way to spend the most romantic weekend of the year than at a track meet.  Some do flowers, some chocolates, Allegheny Track and Field does what it does best, run fast and throw far. 
The first day of action started off on the right foot as the gator men qualified provisionally for the NCAA National Championship in the DMR (Zac Ross, Taylor Throckmorton, Ryan Hanson, Tony Dipre), finishing 6th overall with a time of 10:03.32 with a solid finishing leg by Tony Dipre.  The rest of the day was filled with womans races. 
Lauren Butler (last year an all-american in her specialty: the javelin) switched gears to the Shotput and heaved to a whopping 38-10.25 which led her to 9th place overall.  Rallying once more for the Weight Throw shortly after the Shotput, Butler launched the heavy weight 41-01.5 placing her 23rd overall. 
In the shotest race of the day, Beth Muller cruised to a 7.74 in the 55m dash which placed her 48th overall.  Getting the most out of the day, Muller completed the one lap 200 meter dash in 26.66 which garnered her 65th place.
The meet picked up for the ladies One Mile race, the crowds favorite race of the day.  Sam Zink finished with a killer kick, winning her heat, in 5:15.05 and the 4th fastest mile in the NCAC.  Katie Stancik, despite being afflicted with bronchitis, finished with the 5th fastest time in the NCAC in 5:17.83.  They were 46th and 56th overall, respectively.
The first day of action finished with the longest distance raced indoors, the 5000 meters.  25 laps of fun.  Mia Symoniak, outdoor national qualifier in the 10,000, hoped for an indoor national qualifing time but fell just .88 sec away from the provisional mark, despite a strong finish, in 17:40.88.  This time was fast enough for a 13th place overall finish.  Kelly Gallagher also competed in this event.  Her first time ever racing a 5000 meter race on a track, let alone indoors, she strode her way to an NCAC qualifing time of 18:48.77, which placed her 42nd overall.
The first day of track and field was over.  Day two was left to the gentlemen and the ladies DMR.
The first event of the day was the women's DMR (Katie Stancik, Beth Muller, Sam Zink, Mia Symoniak) which placed 19th over in a time of 12:47.69. 
Taylor, the two lap specialist, Throckmorton was the first of the men up for the day with the 400 meter dash which he completed in 50.73 which placed him 78th place overall.
The rest of the men competing were all entered in the mile.  First up was Tony Dipre.  After watching a sub-4 minute mile by a sophomore from the University of Maine, Tony took the line in heat 3.  Negative splitting from the first half of his race, and closing in a 60 second last lap, Tony powered his way to the 4th fastest time in the country for Division III in a 4:10.28 which placed him 15th overall, improving upon his 35th ranked seed time. Ryan Hanson and Benjamin Richard Eyer set the hot pace early in their race, distancing themselves from the rest of the field and finishing in 4:21.5 and 4:22.16, respectively, improving 60 places from the seed time in 73rd and 75th overall.  Zac Ross finished out the day in 96th place overall in 4:24.78.
With another day comes another dollar and the Allegheny Gators, finished with an exhausting weekend of racing, headed back to the hotel to rest up for one more night only to rise early and head back home to Meadville, Pennsylvania early in the morning to get back on the academic and athletic grind.

(Watch Tony Dipre's 4:10.28, 4th fastest mile time in NCAA Div. III here!)
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236483/298297

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Jim Wuske Invitational

In track and field, success can be the result of winning or setting a new personal record. On Saturday, the Gators did both. Lauren Butler had her furthest throw of the year to win the shot put. Fellow thrower Kristen Collins and heptathlete Emily Norton set new personal records in the event. Beth Muller is running faster than she ever has at this time of year. Her performances this weekend rank her 1st in the conference in the 55m and 2nd in the 200m. Hannah Smith and Holly Wilson both improved on their best triple jump performances this year.

The distance events were dominated by blue and gold. Zac Ross and Mia Symoniak won the 3k's and qualified for the conference championships. Ryan Sullivan (3rd place) and Pat McLaughlin (4th) also ran fast enough in the 3k to qualify for conferences. In the mile, Tony Dipre won by more than 4 seconds. Mike Vlah (3rd place), Ryan Hanson (4th), and Ben Eyer (5th) all improved on their season bests, with Ben adding his name to the others on the conference qualifiers list. In the women's race, Sam Zink ran a huge season best to finish 2nd and qualify for the conference meet. Andrew Mahone continued his steady improvement by cutting another 2.48 seconds off this season's 800m time. In the 5k, Katie Stancik and Emily Dunn went 1-2, while Matt Lacombe finished 3rd for the men. Also in the race, senior Mike Faix set a new PR.

If the weather cooperates, the Distance Medley Relays and Lauren Butler will compete at Boston on Friday and Saturday. The whole team returns to action at Kent State in 2 weeks.

Watch Beth Muller (lane 3) run the 55m trials at the Jim Wuske Invitational:

NCAC Relays

Last Saturday, the teams traveled to Denison University for the North Coast Athletic Conference relay meet. The men's team showed their power up front by winning the 5,000m relay and the Distance Medley Relay (DMR). In the longest relay, Zac Ross won the individual event and the relay by running the 5k in a time of 15:28.81, which is currently the fastest time in the conference. Relay teammate Pat McLaughlin also ran a 5k time that qualifies him for the conference championships. The DMR team of Ben Eyer, Taylor Throckmorton, Ryan Hanson, and Tony Dipre ran the 5th fastest time in the country to set a new meet record.

While the men's team had great star power, the women demonstrated their depth by placing well in a huge variety of events. Mia Symoniak (pictured above) ran comfortably in the first mile of the 5k before dropping her competition. Her time of 18:33.28 won the event by more than 30 seconds and is currently the fastest in the conference. In the shot put relay, Kristen Collins and Lauren Butler both threw season bests to finish second as a relay. Lauren also finished 2nd individually. The 55m hurdle relay of Emily Norton and Hannah Smith finished 2nd. Hannah returned later to help power the triple jump relay to a 2nd place finish. She was joined by freshman Holly Wilson, who had her first conference qualifying performance. Two other freshman showed promise in the distance events. Hannah Serlin and Sara Mitrano were joined by veterans Sam Zink and Katie Stancik in the 4x 800m, which finished 2nd overall.

Baldwin-Wallace

The first meet back after a long break usually represents an opportunity to shake off the rust that's accumulated, but the Allegheny College men's team didn't show any signs of rust. In the first events, junior Tim Hassett set the pace with new PR's in the trials of the 55m dash and 55m hurdles. Later in the day, he finished in 6th in the hurdles finals. The distance men had several great representatives. Miler Tony Dipre ran 4:16.32, which is currently the third fastest time in the country for Division III runners. Also qualifying for the conference championship in the mile were Ryan Hanson, finishing in 6th place with a time of 4:25.14, Zac Ross (7th, 4:27.86), and freshman Mike Vlah (8th, 4:29.37). Tony returned to finish 1st in the 1000m. He was followed by Zac Ross in second, Mike Vlah in third, and Matt Lacombe in 5th. Andrew Mahone finished 3rd in the 800m to qualify for the conference meet. In the field events, freshman John Zuzak got a new PR in the shot put.

The women's program also had standout performances in sprint, distance, and field events. Consistent performers Beth Muller and Becca Lendyak qualified for the finals in the 55m dash, where they finished 5th and 7th respectively. Both athletes have already qualified for the conference championship in the event. Mia Symoniak and Katie Stancik qualified for the conference meet in the mile, while finishing 5th and 6th respectively. They returned to finish 2nd and 4th in the 1000m. Lauren Butler came in 2nd in the shot put to qualify for the conference meet.

The team will run at the NCAC Relay meet next weekend at Denison.

'74 Alum Picture

Dr. Bruce Johnson, ('74) from San Diego, CA and brother-in-law of Coach Ross sent us this picture of himself in his official ACXC attire.  Not sure we like his sense of humor here in the frozen tundra of Western Pennsylvania! :-)

His quote: "Water falling out of the sky in San Diego? Good thing I had my Allegheny Cross Country rain jacket. Kept me warm on a run in 59 degree conditions (58 with wind chill)"

WVU

After a long fall of hard preseason training, the track and field athletes finally had their chance to shine. The day began with trials in the 55m dash and 60m hurdles. Junior Tim Hassett set a new PR in the 55m and tied his previous PR in the hurdles. Juniors Becca Lendyak and Beth Muller advanced to finals, where they were the top Division III runners. In the finals, Becca set a new PR and both women qualified for the NCAC championship meet. Becca returned later in the day to qualify for the NCAC meet in the 200m. Sophomore Taylor Throckmorton (pictured above) won the 400m by passing Rashard Adams of Lynchburg College in the final few meters. While few distance athletes chose to compete in the meet because of the length of the cross country season, Anthony Hessel represented the Gator distance squad well by winning the 3,000m.

Athletes competing in the field events had some of the most spectacular performances of the day. Sophomores Kristin Collins and Lauren Butler both had massive improvements in the weight throw. Lauren threw 10 feet further than her previous best to place third. Kristin stepped up to the challenge and improved by 9 feet. Lauren also qualified for the NCAC meet in the shot put. Her throw can be seen in the video below. Freshman Kerri Morgan qualified for the NCAC meet in the pole vault before withdrawing with a knee injury.

After the semester break, the Gators return to action at Baldwin-Wallace's January invitational.

NCAA Championships

On November 21st, the Gators survived a muddy, hilly course to finish third in the nation as a team. Track All-Americans Jeramie Parker and Chris Marker stayed with the lead pack the entire race to finish 11th and 14th respectively, earning their first All-American awards for cross country. Jake Zimmerman was Allegheny's next runner in 60th. Because individuals who are running without a team do not count towards the team score, Zimmerman was 44th in team scoring. He was followed closely by Tony Dipre in 66th (49th in team scoring). Zac Ross, who was Allegheny's last runner to count towards the team score, finished in 109th overall (83rd in team scoring).

The race was won by North Central, who has been the #1 ranked team the entire season. Williams College finished in second with 181 points, 14 points ahead of Allegheny. This was Allegheny's second time finishing in third place at nationals under the direction of head coach Bill Ross, and it marks the fourth consecutive year that the men have been in the top ten at nationals.

The success of the team this year can not be mentioned without including the contributions of the Gator fans. Gator parents, alumni, teammates, and friends came out in droves to form one of the largest and most vocal groups of supporters at the meet.

Unfortunately, the team loses both Zimmerman and Dipre (pictured below) next year, but they will remain strong contenders because of the experienced runners who will be returning. Not only do Parker, Marker, and Ross have another season of eligibility, the men will also retain junior Ryan Sullivan, who has competed in the last two national championships, junior Matt Lacombe who competed in his first national championships this season, and sophomore Pat McLaughlin who traveled with the team as the alternate. There are also many underclassmen at home, training hard and fighting for a spot in the top 7.

The track and field athletes begin the indoor season next weekend at West Virginia University. The distance runners, including the men who ran at nationals, will wait until January to compete.

Mideast Regional

With their first Mideast regional title, the Allegheny men showed why they are ranked so high in the national polls. Led by region champion Chris Marker (24:54) and runner-up Jeramie Parker (25:00), the men defeated 44 teams, including 4 nationally-ranked programs. Showing they have both speed up front and great depth, the Gators placed 6 men on the All-Region team this year. Also receiving All-Region awards were Zac Ross (15th place, 25:31), Tony Dipre (16th, 25:34), Jake Zimmerman (25th, 25:56), and Ryan Sullivan (31st, 26:04).

As one of the strongest regions in the country, the Mideast received five bids to the national championships next weekend. The Mideast teams that will join Allegheny on the starting line are Carnegie Mellon (2nd place at the regional championship), Haverford (3rd), Dickinson (4th), and Elizabethtown (5th). The 2009 NCAA Championship will be held in Cleveland, OH on Saturday, November 21st.



Although the women's team did not advance to the national championship, the day contained many successes. Senior Mia Symoniak continued to pace the team, placing 25th in a time of 22:48. Joining her on the All-Region team for the first time was junior Katie Stancik (31st, 23:07).

As a team, the women improved one spot on last year's finish, coming in 8th this year. The region was won by Johns Hopkins, who is currently ranked second in the nation.

With only two seniors competing on this year's championship team, the women have a positive outlook for the future. Those returning next year include Stancik, freshman Kelly Gallagher (50th, 23:40), sophomore Hallie Dilley (89th, 24:13), junior Sam Zink (97th, 24:22), and freshman Hannah Serlin (148th, 25:13).

NCAC Championships

After a night of heavy rain, Ohio Wesleyan's home course was more like a swamp for the conference championship meet on Saturday, October 31st. In poor conditions, many teams fold under the pressure, but the Gators showed up ready to run hard. The women slogged through a muddy stream and over a flooded bridge twice, but never gave up. For their efforts, they finished third as team, improving on their fifth place showing last year. The team championship was won by Oberlin College (ranked #21 in the nation). Wittenberg came in second, defeating Allegheny by a mere 6 points. Senior Mia Symoniak (pictured below) was the women's first finisher in 24:12. She was followed closely by Katie Stancik (24:17) and Kelly Gallagher (24:19). Sam Zink was the fourth runner in 25:00. On a day when conditions prevent even the best athletes from running fast, senior Emily Dunn surprised her competitors by stepping up to finish fifth on the team and almost setting a new PR.



While the conditions prevented the men from running the times that would be expected from a national caliber team, the team score reflected their dominance. The Gator men won with a low score of 25, well ahead of runner-up Wabash (82) and third place finisher Oberlin (85). Juniors Jeramie Parker and Chris Marker (pictured below) finished in the top two spots with times of 25:53 and 25:57. Rounding out the team score were Zac Ross in 6th place (26:30), Tony Dipre in 7th (26:39), and Jake Zimmerman in 9th (26:50).


On November 14th, the Gators will compete in the Mideast Regional Championships at Lehigh University. The top team and individual finishers at the meet earn a spot at the NCAA championships in Cleveland, OH.

Inter Regional Rumble

Last Saturday, the men and women slogged through the mud at Oberlin College in the Inter Regional Rumble. The women got the day off to a great start with 6 of the top 7 runners running new PR's, with sophmore Hallie Dilley finishing just 4 seconds slower than her previous PR in only her second meet back from a summer injury. The team was led by senior Mia Symoniak, who finished in 22:26. Also running in the varsity race were Kelly Gallagher (FR, 23:10), Hannah Serlin (FR, 23:29), Sam Zink (JR, 23:44), Laura Heltman (JR, 24:36), and Emily Dunn (SR, 24:40). In addtion, senior Lynn Simonton and sophmore Amber Wetzel (both pictured above) ran new season's bests. Despite the absence (due to illness) of junior Katie Stancik, Allegheny finished close behind fellow Mideast Region teams Grove City and Carnegie Mellon, and ahead of Elizabethtown and Westminster. The women also beat conference opponents Kenyon, Wooster, and Hiram.

In the men's race, junior Chris Marker ran away from the field early in the race and held on for the individual win in a time of 24:46. Teammate Jeramie Parker finished second in a new PR of 24:54. Unfortunately, the men lost a close battle with nationally-ranked NYU, finishing a mere 3 points behind them, but the Allegheny men soundly beat numerous other nationally ranked teams, including Carnegie Mellon (#21), University of St. Thomas (#33), Ohio Northern (#20), and Johns Hopkins (#31). By the time the men finished, the sloppy course had been torn apart, but several men improved upon their previous bests, including Matt Brush, John O'Neil, Steve Cottington, and Ryan Hanson, who dropped 25 seconds to finish 32nd in the loaded field.

In another positive move, both teams improved on their finishes from last year, where the men came in 5th and the women came in 13th. The Inter Regional Rumble represents the end of cross country's regular season meets. The next competition will be the North Coast Athletic Conference championship on October 31st at Ohio Wesleyan.

Paul Short Run

In a change from past years, the Paul Short Run on Friday, October 2 was divided into 4 divisions. The Allegheny College men competed in the Gold race, the fastest race of the day. In a preview of this year's regional championship course, 6 of Allegheny's top 7 men ran new PR's, leading them to finish second among Division III teams behind Cortland, who is currently ranked third in the nation, and ahead of nationally ranked rivals Dickinson (#9), St. Lawrence (#11), Haverford (#21), and Plattsburgh (#28). They also defeated the varsity squads of numerous local Division I and II teams including Duquesne, Shippensburg, Lock Haven, Pitt, and Lehigh. The top teams in the Gold race were Indiana, Iona (ranked #7 in Division I polls), and N.C. State (#19 in Division I). Allegheny's scorers were Chris Marker (24:42), Zac Ross (25:01), Tony Dipre (pictured above, 25:03), Jeramie Parker (25:03), and Jake Zimmerman (25:30).

The women competed in the Brown race where they finished 26th, a mere four points behind regional rivals Messiah, and ahead of regional teams Misericordia, Swarthmore, and Elizabethtown, as well as Pennsylvania schools Temple and Pitt. The race was won by Division II teams Kutztown and Bloomsburg. With a change in faces from the Calvin Invitational, Katie Stancik (pictured above) led the way (23:07), followed closely by freshman Kelly Gallagher (23:16) and Hannah Serlin (23:30) in their first 6k's ever. In their seasonal debut after suffering from summer injuries, Hallie Dilley finished fourth for the team (24:19) and Lynn Simonton ran 6th (25:20). Senior Emily Dunn ran a new PR of 25:11 to finish in fifth for the Gators.

The next meet for both teams will be Interregional Rumble at Oberlin on October 17th.

Calvin Invitational

The Allegheny men moved up a spot to #5 in this week's national polls, largely due to their dominating performance at the Calvin Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19. Host Calvin College is ranked seventh in the nation for NCAA Division III schools, but they couldn't hold off Allegheny, who had four men finish before Calvin's second runner. After their great seasons on the track last year, Chris Marker and Jeremie Parker continued to improve, finishing second and 6th overall in new PR's of 25:01 and 25:12. Zac Ross was close behind in 25:18 for 8th place. The top 6 athletes finished with a 51 second spread. They included Jake Zimmerman (12th, 25:31), Tony Dipre (20th, 25:50) and Pat McLaughlin (21st) in a PR of 25:52. The team scored 48 points to win the meet, defeating runner-up Calvin (83 points), Ohio Northern (#19 in the nation in NCAA Division III), Aquinas (#8 in the nation in NAIA), and Indiana Tech (#15 in the nation in NAIA).

The women entered the meet ready to prove themselves. With great weather and a fast course on their side, they stepped up their game. Senior Mia Symoniak led the way with a fifth place finish and a new PR of 18:10.3. Katie Stancik (JR) followed in 18:54. The next four athletes were a mix of freshmen and returners, but all set new PR's. They included Kelly Gallagher (FR, 19:00), Sam Zink (JR, 19:29), Hannah Serlin (FR, 19:45), and Angie Dyer (JR. 20:05). As a team, the women were fourth behind Calvin (#2 in the nation for NCAA Division III), Case Western Reserve (#13 in NCAA), and Baldwin-Wallace (#35 in NCAA), and ahead of Aquinas (#15 in the nation in NAIA), Spring Arbor (#17 in NAIA) and conference rivals Ohio Wesleyan.

As a result of their fine races, Mia Symoniak and Chris Marker were named NCAC Runner's of the Week. The next meet on the schedule is the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University.