For the second time this season, Ohio women’s cross country runner Juli Accurso was better than her competition.
Accurso was victorious in the Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday at Ball State, as she finished in first, more than 100 meters ahead of second-place finisher Emma Kertesz from Toledo.
“It is an honor to be a MAC Champion. My goal going into the race was to run the strongest and smartest that I had all season. I am proud that I was able to race mentally and physically strong,” Accurso said.
In the championship meet, the women finished in fourth place overall behind Toledo, Central Michigan and Miami, respectively.
Despite exceeding expectations from Bobcat head coach Clay Calkins, the Ohio men finished in fifth behind strong performances from Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo and Kent State.
“I think all the runners ran up to their potential,” Calkins said. “Toledo ran a great race in the women’s race, and I think the men competed much better with the conference that it looked like they would have on paper.”
In the women’s race, the Bobcats finished with 86 team points from their five runners that placed. Finishing behind Accurso’s (20:35) victory performance were Emily Pifer (21:17), Allison Stillwell (21:56), Morgan Reichert (22:05) and Melissa Thompson (22:10).
Coming into the race, the Bobcat women wanted to finish in the top four and to compete for the lead. Even though the women finished where they wanted to, the runners didn’t feel satisfied.
On the men’s side, juniors Tyler Ames (24:48) and Noah Howkins (24:54) led the way for Ohio, as both finished in the top 15 runners. The Bobcats picked up one less point than Toledo to finish ahead of the Rockets.
Other leading runners for the men’s team were Chase Robinson (25:20), Matt Michno (25:20) and Nick Hissrich (25:26).
“I was ecstatic with how everyone ran this weekend,” Ames said. “The top seven men all ran lifetime bests and we all peaked at the perfect time to compete strong in our conference meet.”
The Bobcats will again have an extended break between meets. Calkins hopes the team will keep on task and keep training hard before they compete in the NCAA Regionals at Toledo on Nov. 12.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
