It was a tale of two races for the Ohio cross country teams this weekend at the Indiana State Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.
The men’s team claimed the top spot in the White Race, while the women’s team finished in 41st out-of 49 teams in the highly-competitive Blue Race.
Although the results were disappointing on the women’s side, Ohio was running alongside some of the best schools in the nation, while the men were in a slower heat overall.
For the men, Saturday was about redemption after their previous meet at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Sophomore Jerrod Genther said the Bobcats had a light week of training before their trip to the tournament and it worked out in their favor.
Senior Chase Robinson was the first Bobcat to cross the finish line, clocking in a time of 25:18.7 and snatching 13th place in the 8k race.
Genther, the next Ohio runner to finish, crossed with a time of 25:20.2, which was good for 17th place.
Then came a cluster of Bobcats to cross the line, in the race that featured a trio of Mid-American Conference teams, Bowling Green, Kent State and Toledo.
Junior Jacob Stephens finished in 24th place with a time of 25:32.2. A pair of Ohio runners finished in 27th and 28th overall, with junior Kurt Steinmuller (25:34.4) and sophomore Jake Gentile (25:35.3) claiming those spots, respectively.
The heat’s top overall
runner was Paul Chelimo from North Carolina-Greensboro, who finished the race with a time of 24:13.3.
The White Race was considered the second-best heat of competition at the invitational.
On the women’s side, it was a tough day for Ohio, as it faced a field of prominent competition.
Despite a strong performance from senior Juli Accurso, who finished 20th overall with a time of 20:36.1, the remainder of the team did not finish close to the two-time All-American.
The next Ohio runner to cross the line was sophomore Krista Roehlig, who ran a 21:58.7, which was placed her at 184th out of 340 total runners competing in the Blue Race.
Ohio will now prepare for their next competition at the Mid-American Championships at Bowling Green on Nov. 2.
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