The cross country team traveled to the Cornhusker State this weekend as they competed in the Oshkosh Invitational. The races were stacked with competition; the men’s side hosted 10 of the top 35 teams in the nation, while the women’s side hosted nine. Knowing the course is a flat golf course that boasts easy turns and wide straightaways, the team was looking to set some personal bests this weekend.
For the men, sophomore Stefan Arnold led Hopkins with a time of 25:36. Arnold was one of five Jays and one of 120 overall runners to finish the race at or under the 26-minute mark. These Jays included senior Austin Stecklair, junior Schaffer Ochstein and senior Andrew Ceruzzi, with junior Ryan Alverez rounding out the scoring pack.
Hopkins finished with a total of 422 points for the day with the men’s average time being 25:52.
“As a team this weekend, we got out well, packed up and put ourselves in good position to run a strong race,” Arnold said. “In the middle of the race, we got a little strung out and relaxed a little bit too much, not leading to the result we had hoped for, but still giving us something to hang our heads high about and use as momentum moving forward into the post-season.”
The Lady Jays finished third overall in the field, only behind two nationally ranked D-II teams. Hopkins was led by junior and reigning National Runner of the Week Sophia Meehan. Meehan led the Jays to their third place finish with a second place finish of her own in a time of 20:56.47. She was joined in the top 25 as senior Ashley Murphy, freshman Bridget Gottlieb and sophomore Tess Meehan finished 18th, 22nd and 24th, respectively. Junior Caroline Powers also scored for Hopkins with a 40th place finish. Sophia Meehan’s efforts were acknowledged as she earned Centennial Conference Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week for the third time in her career and the fourth on the season for the Lady Jays.
The team finished with 106 points, only behind the top-ranked D-II team, Grand Valley State University, and the third-ranked D-II team, Minnesota-Duluth. Also competing in the invitational, but topped by the Jays, were the fourth-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), sixth-ranked Washington University, 14th-ranked Calvin and many other top ranked schools.
The Jays also sent a crew to the Princeton Invitational where freshman Louis Levine led the men with a time of 26:11, to a 31st place finish. The women finished 29th, led by senior Caroline Ticse.
Both the men’s team and the women’s team are looking to defend their Centennial Conference champion titles as they continue their season. Stecklair said, “Our focus now is defending our title as conference and regional champions. Our training this year has been better than ever and everyone is ready to roll when the post season comes around in a couple weeks.”
Hopkins will be back in action on Nov. 1 at the Centennial Conference Championships in Haverford, Pa.
