In a meet filled with dozens of schools and hundreds of runners, the Ohio men’s and women’s cross country teams found themselves right in the middle of the pack at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday.
The Bobcats finished in 16th in the women’s Blue Division, the best race on their side, while the men placed seventh in the second-tier Gold Division.
A total of 24 schools competed in the Blue Division, including national powerhouse No. 2 Florida State, which finished first, while New Mexico placed second and San Francisco rounded out the top-three finishers.
Senior Juli Accurso was the top performer for Ohio women, finishing her race in 17:41 in the 28th spot overall.
The next two Bobcats to cross the finish line were sophomore Kayla Scott and junior Morgan Reichert, placing 81st and 82nd, respectively. Scott ran a time of 18:20.5, and Reichert was just behind with 18:20.8.
The top runner overall was Duke senior Juliet Bottorff, who clocked an impressive time of 16:43.8.
During the men’s race, Ohio ran with 22 other schools in the Gold Division, where smaller schools found their way onto the podium. Grand Valley State claimed the top spot, with North Central College (Ill.) and Windsor (Ontario) behind.
Despite an injury that kept him out most of last year, senior Chase Robinson was the first Bobcat to cross the finish line with a 26:05.9 time placing him 22nd overall.
Junior Kurt Steinmuller (26:41.6) and junior Jacob Stephens (26:43.6) were the next Ohio runners to finish their heat finishing in 49th place and 52ndplace, respectively.
Individually in the men’s race, North Central senior John Crain was the leader with a 25:15.2 time, as he finished 20 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Grand Valley State junior Alan Peterson (25:35.7).
Although the standings hint that Ohio struggled at the Notre Dame Invitational, the competition was the best the Bobcats have seen to date.
Schools from throughout the nation attended, and coach Clay Calkins stressed before the meet that Friday would be a great opportunity to face the best competition.
Last week, Calkins dropped out of the All-Ohio Championships in favor of Notre Dame, and the Bobcats will now prepare for Pre-Nationals scheduled for Oct. 19.
gh181212@ohiou.edu
@charliehatch_
