Four Garnet Runners Earn All Mid-East Region Honors
WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- Four Garnet runners earned All Mid-East Region status as the Swarthmore cross country teams competed at the annual 2006 NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional held at Waynesburg College.
The Garnet women finished sixth overall out of 41 teams o, just one point out of fifth place while the Swarthmore men finished ninth among 39 squads.
As they have all season long, freshmen Nyika Corbett and Erin Ronhovde, and sophomore Emma Stanley, led the Garnet women. On Saturday, Corbett placed 12th with a 6k time of 24:15 with Stanley just one second behind in 13th place. Ronhovde finished in 19th, seven seconds behind Stanley at 24:23. The three runners all earned All Mid-East status - Corbett and Ronhovde made the First-Team All Mid-East Freshman team. It is the second consecutive All Mid-East Region selection for Stanley.
Sophomores Kathy Feeney (73rd--26:03) and Bess Ritter (77th--26:10) rounded out the Garnet scoring, while Faith Pampel '09 (117th--26:58) and Lauren DeLuca '10 (155th--27:47) also competed.
Swarthmore's team score of 194 trailed Centennial Conference rival Johns Hopkins by just one point. CC rivals Dickinson (49) and Haverford (104) finished 1-2 overall, with Allegheny (156) and Elizabethtown (171) rounding out the top four.
Depending on how the selection of teams to the NCAA National tournament shakes down, both Corbett and Stanley could be headed to the National Championship Meet as individuals. More information will be known on Sunday.
The men were led by sophomore Erik Saka, who completed a season of impressive achievements by earning All Mid-East honors. Saka, who began the year as the team's nominal fourth runner, improved his times and standing in relation to his teammates with each meet and chalked up a 34th-place finish on Saturday with a time of 27:31 over the 8k course.
Junior Jon Shoop (51st--28:05), senior Vernon Chaplin (56th--28:10), junior Ross Weller (61st--28:12), and sophomore Dan Hodson (75th--28:29) scored points for the Garnet. Chaplin was slowed by a relapse of his recent bout with the flu. Nat Erb-Satullo '07 (96th--28:53) and Jonnie Tompkins (175th--30:30) rounded out the Garnet squad.
Local rival Haverford took first overall with a team score of 51 points, nosing out Allegheny (54). Other CC squads placing in the top 10 were Muhlenberg (4th--160), Dickinson (5th--178), Johns Hopkins (8th--265), and Swarthmore (9th--277).