In the biggest race they have competed in this season, Ohio runners for both the men and women’s teams finished in the middle of the pack at the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.
The meet, which hosted 40 women’s teams and 35 men’s programs, is regarded as one of the toughest in the country.
The Ohio women finished in 19th place in the 6-kilometer race, ahead of top schools such as Toledo, Xavier, Indiana and host Indiana State University.
“The women raced to our expectations and I think ran up to their potential,” coach Clay Calkins said. “We have some injuries affecting us, but I think in the coming weeks we will rebound and finish the season very strong.”
Finishing strong for the Bobcats were sophomores Emily Pifer (21:51) and Juli Accurso (22:01), who placed 44th and 54th, respectively.
More than 300 runners placed individually in addition to other team competitors who did not place.
“I believe that our team's success over a few past meets has helped us maintain motivation for big races, but I don't believe all our success is the main contributor to our motivation,” Accurso said. “We're runners. An ever-present source of motivation is in our blood.”
On the men’s side, the Bobcats finished with 700 team points in 26th place out of 35 teams in the 8K race. The men also finished better than Mid-American Conference rival Toledo, which placed just one spot behind the Bobcats.
Junior Tyler Ames (25:45) led the way for the team finishing in 100th place. Other Ohio runners placing behind Ames were Noah Howkins (25:58), Chase Robinson (26:11) and Matt Michno (26:16).
“Even though I know Chase can run better, him, Noah and Tyler both ran very solid races,” Calkins said. “However, there is still a lot of room for improvement on the men’s side before the MAC Championships in two weeks.”
While every Bobcat runner might have finished in triple digits overall, the seven runners on the team all ran in a pack and finished 61 seconds apart from each other.
Calkins would like the teams to continue rigorous training, as they will not race again for another 12 days at the MAC Championships.
Quick Stats
Date: Sunday, October 16
Location: Terre Haute, In.
Result: Women – 19th (554 points)
Men – 26th (700 points)
Interesting Facts:
-Men’s team placed higher than in the same 2010 race
-First race teams competed in over the past 2 weeks
-All men’s runners finished within 61 seconds of each other
cl027410@ohiou.edu
