CMC75 Moments: 1994 Women's XC Begins SCIAC Dynasty With League Title
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1994 Women's Cross Country Wins First of Eight Straight SCIAC Titles
The CMS women's cross country program had already experienced success by the time the 1994 team laced up its sneakers. The Athenas had earned six SCIAC titles in their history, although it had been five years since the last time they finished in first place, with the 1993 SCIAC Championship seeing CMS finish only one agonizing point behind Occidental.
The 1994 season changed everything, though. Not only did the Athenas take first place, but they started a streak of eight straight titles, beginning a reign of dominance that they haven't relinquished. CMS has now won 23 of the last 26 SCIAC Championships since 1994, which included sweeping the decade of the 2010s with 10 straight titles, surpassing the eight-year streak that the 1994 team started.
Jen Stuart helped start the dynasty, winning both the SCIAC and the NCAA West Region individual championships as a freshman. Gretchen Sauer and Gretchen Brugman were also first-team All-SCIAC after finishing in the top 10 at the SCIAC Championships, while Jennifer Davis, Louise Tench and Shoshana Ziblatt were second-team All-SCIAC.
The Athenas used the 1994 title as a springboard to even greater immediate success, finishing fourth at the 1995 NCAA Championships (up from 17th in 1994), the highest finish for the program until the 2012 team came in third. Louise Tench was the SCIAC Athlete of the Year in 1995, while Davis, Stuart, Ziblatt and Sarah Gerard were first-team All-SCIAC finishers.
Jen Stuart:
It's funny - here we are, over 25 years later (how is the time passing so quickly?!), and I still have this flood of emotions when I think about that team, and about just the whole experience of getting to be part of the CMS running team for the years that I was there. The overarching memory that I have of the '94 cross country season is that, in a year that was difficult for me for many reasons, mainly living away from home and family for the first time, I felt like I found a second family. I had amazing teammates, and I remember that we talked about so many things (upcoming exams, life goals, worries, significant others) during our longer runs. There is a special bond, I think, in waking up hours before anyone else and really testing yourself, and also enjoying some gorgeous early morning runs, alongside a really great group of people.
I think that was especially fostered by Coach Goldhammer. I cannot imagine a better or more supportive coach. Coach Goldhammer really built a huge extended family amongst all of us over the years, communicating regularly with all alums, and connecting alums with the current members and progress of the team. To this day, I receive emails from Coach Goldhammer on, not only my birthday, but the birthdays of my kids. As much as Coach joked with us, or gave us a hard time, I believe that he cared deeply for each of us, and for the team as a whole, and worked to build that sense of family amongst us all.
Specific memories include, of course, Nationals in Pennsylvania, at the end of the race, we all piled on each other in celebration. I remember early morning crazy hard 1000-yard loop workouts (I think they were longer than 1000 yards, and there were so many of them!). There were truly gorgeous long runs, including the Sound of Music run, in the hills/mountains around Mt. Baldy. I remember when we would finish races with other teams during the mid-to-late part of the season, and while other teams were stretching and relaxing, we would move right into a plyometrics workout or maybe a bit more running. I remember trying to run Mt. Baldy within an hour - I think I just missed it that year. And I remember breakfasts and dinners with the team, sometimes both in one day during two-a-day parts of the season, and just feeling complete happiness following really hard workouts, hanging out with my teammates in Collins Dining Hall.
It is really the sense of belonging and common purpose, amongst people that were very different but all wonderful, that I remember and think about the most. More than any of the races, although those were pretty great that season too. I consider myself really lucky to have gotten to be part of this CMS team, and particularly to have been coached by, and to now be friends with, Coach Goldhammer.
1994 Women's Cross Country Roster
Head Coach: John Goldhammer
Gretchen Brugman (Sr., Scripps)
Jennifer Davis (Jr., Scripps)
Sarah Gerard (Jr., CMC)
Sherry Hom (So., HMC)
Alyson Ingham (So., CMC)
Tayleah Jones (So., CMC)
Hiromi Mori (So., Scripps)
Gretchen Sauer (So., CMC)
Jennifer Stallard (Jr., Scripps)
Jennifer Stuart (Fr., CMC)
Louise Tench (So., Scripps)
Shoshana Ziblatt (Jr., Scripps)
1995 Women's Cross Country Roster (4th at NCAAs)
Head Coach: John Goldhammer
Assistant Coach: Kelly Beck
Marina Bernstein (Fr., Scripps)
Jennifer Davis (Sr., Scripps)
Pavla Dusek (Fr., CMC)
Sarah Gerard (Sr., CMC)
Sherry Hom (Jr., HMC)
Shawna Ling (Fr., CMC)
Nicole Scheunemann (Fr., Scripps)
Jennifer Stallard (Sr., Scripps)
Cary Strumpf (Fr., CMC)
Jennifer Stuart (So., CMC)
Louise Tench (Jr., Scripps)
Amy Ward (Sr., CMC)
Carla Webster (Fr., Scripps)
Shoshana Ziblatt (Sr., Scripps)