Stags And Athenas Sweep SCIAC Cross Country Titles
The men's and women's cross country teams finished first at the SCIAC Championships at Prado Park on Saturday morning. The Stags scored 33 points and the Athenas scored 30. This was the 22nd title for the women, the 12th title for the men and the ninth time that both teams won titles in the same year. The scores of the men's competition were CMS 33, Pomona-Pitzer 39, La Verne 69, Occidental 123, Whittier 124, Redlands 200, Cal Lutheran 203, Caltech 206 and Chapman 260. The women's scores were CMS 30, Occidental 66, Pomona-Pitzer 103, La Verne 113, Whittier 121, Cal Lutheran 124, Redlands 176, Caltech 234 and Chapman 265.
The Stags, ranked first in the region and ninth nationally, ran first and used their superior depth to pull out a close battle with the Sagehens. CMS was four points down through four runners, but put eight runners in front of P-P's fifth to win the championship by six points. Rafer Dannenhauer won the race with a strong kick over the last 300 meters and claimed the first individual title for a Stag since 2002. He also earned SCIAC Runner of the Year honors by having the lowest combined finish at the SCIAC Multi-Duals and SCIAC Championships. His five point total bested his teammate and top freshman finisher Zorg Loustalet by three. Loustalet finished fifth in today's race leading teammates Brian Sutter, Justin Jones and Bennett Naden who finished eighth, ninth and tenth respectively. All five earned First Team All-SCIAC honors by finishing in the top 10. Three more Stags earned Second Team All-SCIAC honors by finishing 11th - 20th. Jacob Higle-Ralbovsky finished 16th, Sam Pitcavage 17th and Colin Briskman 20th.
The Athenas, ranked first regionally and fourth nationally, used strong front runners and superior depth to dominate the women's race. CMS had three runners in the top five overall and had seven runners finish prior to any other team's third. Allison Barnwell (pictured middle) finished second overall as she finished first for the Athenas for the first time in her career. Bridget Blum (pictured left) and Sara Mostatabi (pictured right) continued their strong racing by finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Marnie Hogue and Aubrey Zimmerling joined those three on the All-SCIAC First Team by finishing ninth and tenth. Lisa Beem and Kate Crawford ran together the entire race and finished 13th and 14th to earn Second Team All-SCIAC honors.
The teams will race again in two weeks at the NCAA West Regional in Salem, OR on November 10. The meet, which serves as a qualifying race for the NCAA Championships, will be held at Oak Knoll Golf Course with the men racing at 11:00 and women racing at noon. Complete meet information can be found at: http://d3xc.com/
