On a day when the clouds in the sky threatened to bring rain, Ohio's cross-country teams shined in their season debut.
The cool weather provided a beneficial environment for the Ohio Open, and the Bobcats certainly took advantage.
The men's team won by a score of 15-48, while the women earned a victory as well, 17-50.
It was a good win
not that it was unexpected head coach Clay Calkins said. It was good preparation for us.
The women ran the 5K trail first. The race wound around the campus golf course twice and started at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Victoria Botticelli, who raced unattached, won the race by more than six seconds with a time of 19 minutes, 28.62 seconds. The next three runners to cross were all Bobcats.
Melissa Thompson took second, posting a time of 19:36.84.
Allison Stillwell and Lauren Fett finished not too far behind. The duo seemed to finish as a tandem, finishing only 0.27 seconds apart.
Our freshmen women really stepped it up Calkins said.
The gun fired a half hour later to signal the start of the men's race, and even more Bobcat runners finished near the top of the leader board.
Scott Meyers, who turned in a time of 15:40.08, led a group of Bobcats that swept the top five spots in the race.
Noah Howkins was only 0.54 seconds behind, and fellow Bobcats Tyler Cantley, Chris Davis and Joey Cherico finished just behind him.
There was a good pack on the men's side
Calkins said. I thought the guys ran really well.
Most of Ohio's runners treated the event as a glorified workout, and Howkins showed that toward the end of the race.
Instead of putting his head down for a final spurt, he glanced backward at the field, something that he wouldn't have done during a more important race.
The lightheartedness of the event was further exemplified by the fact that many Bobcats wore normal running shoes over their typical race day cleats.
We went into it feeling pretty confident
Calkins said. We got some good work done out on the course
and we ended up winning at the same time.
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Sports
Mark Emery
