Men Among the Elite at OAC Championships; Women Continue to Climb

The Heidelberg College cross country teams, under the guidance of Kevin Lucas, took part in the 2007 Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Highland Park Golf Course today in Cleveland, Ohio. The championships were hosted by John Carroll University.

The men’s team was paced by three all-conference runners en route to its runner-up finish in the 90th running of the men’s championships. Ohio Northern University claimed its first league title with 38 points followed by the Berg with 48 points. Finishing third was two-time defending champion Mount Union College (50).

Earning all-conference honors for the second-straight year was Scott Lasch (Huron, Ohio / Huron) and Dan Simpson (Leetonia, Ohio / Leetonia), while Devin Butcher (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green) picked up his first all-conference honor of his career. Lasch took home runner-up honors, finishing the 8k course in 26:09.42. Simpson followed a close third at 26:11.03. Butcher stood seventh (26:27.70) to round out three in the top-10.

Rounding out the Heidelberg’s top-five on the men’s side was Jake Lemon (Oak Harbor, Ohio / Oak Harbor) in 14th at 26:46.80 and Jarrod Saling (Caldwell, Ohio / Caldwell) in 22nd in a time of 27:08.47.

Baldwin-Wallace College claimed the women’s championship at 27 points followed by Otterbein College in second with 85 points. Heidelberg stood ninth with 224 points.

Paving the way for the women’s team was freshman Ninette Ruch (Toledo, Ohio / Notre Dame) in 41st (26:13.45) followed by Erica Tenwalde (Ada, Ohio / Lima Shawne) in 42nd (26:14.18). Tausha Posani (Canal Winchester, Ohio / Canal Winchester) finished in 26:25.03, good enough for 45th, while Rachael Hoover (South Euclid, Ohio / Brush) stood 47th in a time of 26:30.00. Wendy Sumser (Bellevue, Ohio / Bellevue) rounded out the top-five racers for Heidelberg in a time of 26:41.86 (49th).