Before last weekend, it had been nine years since Whitman hosted the Northwest Conference Cross Country Meet. However, last weekend, Whitman opened its fields once again to the northwest teams.
First-year Kirsten Ballinger and juniors Sara McCune and Yasmeen Colis made sure they took advantage of the familiar course. All three finished among the top 15 runners and will be named to the All-Conference team. In doing so, they led the women’s cross-country team to a second-place tie at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Meet on Saturday, Nov. 1. It was the team’s highest finish in over five years.
Ballinger finished sixth for Whitman in the women’s race, high enough to earn her first team all-conference honors.
“I was hoping to stay with the front pack, and then have a kick at the end. I think it went pretty well,” said Ballinger.
Willamette won the women’s race with Maddie Coffman and Jena Winger finishing 1-2 for the Wildcats.
Francis Reynolds, a junior at UPS, was the conference champion for the men, running the 8K race in 24:35.24, but UPS finished seventh in the team score, with Whitworth edging out Willamette for its first conference title in over 20 years.
“I felt pretty good about the race,” said Reynolds. “I paced out pretty relaxed and then knew I had to make a move.”
Reynolds pulled away from the pack almost immediately and lengthened his lead throughout the race. Last year he placed 88th at nationals and hopes to improve upon that this year.
“I’m trying to get All-American [Honors], which means I have to be in the top 35 at nationals. Right now, I’m going to focus on my next two weeks of training before regionals,” he said.
Matt Kelly was the first finisher for Whitman on the men’s side. He placed 24th with a time of 26:25.85, followed by sophomore Sam Hennessey and senior Nick Litman. Overall, the men finished seventh, a standing they would like to improve upon.
“It did not go as well as it could have,” said Kelly. “It really could have been a better day.”
Still, junior Curtis Reid had a positive outlook on the race.
“I think the team did well. The front guys did not have the best race, but we all ran closer together, which meant one guy could catch up to his teammate and encourage him before tagging up to the next guy,” he said.
“All season, we’ve been running progressively harder courses, but my times have stayed the same. It was nice to finally get a better time,” said sophomore John Callow.
Next, both teams will travel to Willamette to compete at the regional meet. Regionals are where teams can qualify for the national meet, which will take place at Hanover College in Indiana. The women are especially excited about their potential. In the last coaches’ poll, they were ranked 33rd in the nation.
“We’ve built our foundation and are really excited to see how we can spring forward at regionals and hopefully nationals,” said McCune.
The top two teams at regionals go on to nationals and, according to McCune, the third-place team has a good chance at a wildcard.
Whatever their times, the team runs with approval.
“I love this team, and anything they do is okay with me,” said sophomore Joe Wheeler.
