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Men's Cross Country Set to Climb in D-III Ranking

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Mitchell Klingler (left) and Paul Lewis led the Albion men to its most prestigious invitational win in the last 20 years.Mitchell Klingler (left) and Paul Lewis led the Albion men to its most prestigious invitational win in the last 20 years.OBERLIN, Ohio – The 34th-ranked Albion College men’s cross country team is poised to climb in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Division III ranking after thumping No. 15 Wabash (Ind.) and No. 32 Allegheny (Pa.) in the Inter-Regional Rumble today. Led by sophomores Paul Lewis (Albion) and Mitchell Klingler (Coldwater/Bronson), Albion won the meet with 117 points. First-year runner Lauren Kettle (Milford) was the first woman to complete the 6K course as Albion finished seventh out of 33 teams.

Second-place Allegheny put three runners in the top 10, but the team result was decided by the fifth men as Albion’s Evan Smallman (Milford) finished 62 places ahead of the Gators’ runner.

“In talking to (former men’s track & field coach) Dave Egnatuk this is the most prestigious invitational the Albion men have won in the last 20 years,” Coach Hayden Smith, ’70, said. “It was a clear example that it takes seven runners to be a great team. Depth continues to play a role in our success. Our No. 8 runner beat all but three teams’ No. 5 runner, and our seventh runner beat all but two teams’ No. 4 runner.”

Lewis shaved 25 seconds off his season-best time, completing the 8K course 13th overall in 26:08.3. Klingler was less than two seconds off Lewis’ pace and one second shy of his season-best mark in finishing 14th.

The gap between Lewis and Smallman was just 38 seconds as Deion Pruit (Ann Arbor/Huron) finished 24th at 26:34.1, Drew Fuentes (Grand Junction/Bangor) was 27th at 26:35.8, and Smallman at 26:46.2.

Matt Melvin (Bangor) and Dylan Danowski (Highland/Milford), Albion’s sixth and seventh runners, finished their races in less than 27 minutes.

The women’s team, ranked eighth in the Great Lakes region, also enjoyed an impressive day as it knocked off Mount Union College, No. 7 in the region. Albion’s total was 33 points higher than sixth-place Baldwin-Wallace College. Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve University, ranked first and sixth, respectively, in the region were the top two teams in the meet.

Kettle, running a 6K race for the first time in her collegiate career, was the first to the finish by nine-tenths of a second. Her time of 22:23.6 edged Case Western’s Natalia Cabrera (22:24.5). Weaver finished 35 seconds behind Kettle in 15th.

“Lauren and Amanda served notice that they will be factors in qualifying (as individuals) for the Division III Championships,” Smith said.

Amanda Weaver (left) and Lauren Kettle will be in the mix to qualify as individuals for the NCAA Division III Championships.Amanda Weaver (left) and Lauren Kettle will be in the mix to qualify as individuals for the NCAA Division III Championships.First-year runners Rachel Derocher (White Lake/Holly), Megan Wickens (Livonia/Franklin), and Emily Morlock (Ionia) completed Albion’s top five. Derocher was 57th out of 282 runners with a time of less than 24 minutes (23:58.9). Wickens finished in the top 100 (24:45.9), and Morlock cracked Albion’s top five for the first time in her career (24:55).

Albion will take a week off to prepare for the Oct. 29 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships which will be run in Alma.

MEN’S TEAM SCORES (34 TEAMS): 1. Albion 117, 2. Allegheny (Pa.) 140, 3. St. Vincent (Pa.) 193, 4. Ohio Wesleyan 204, 5. Ithaca (N.Y.) 230, 6. Case Western (Ohio) 236, 7, Lynchburg 253, 8. Brockport St. (N.Y.) 287, 9. John Carroll (Ohio) 290, 10. Wabash (Ind.) 384.
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION: Bill Jones, Franciscan, 25:23.3
ALBION: 13. Paul Lewis 26:08.3, 14. Mitchell Klingler 26:10.8, 24. Deion Pruitt 26:34.1, 27. Drew Fuentes 26:35.8, 39. Evan Smallman 26:46.2.
LINK TO FULL MEN’S RESULTS

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES (33 TEAMS): 1. Oberlin (Ohio), 60, 2. Case Western (Ohio) 147, 3. DePauw (Ind.) 191, 4. John Carroll (Ohio) 193, 5. Ithaca (N.Y.) 201, 6. Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) 235, 7. Albion 268, 8. Otterbein (Ohio) 278, 9. Ohio Wesleyan 317, 10. Grove City (Pa.) 322.
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION: Lauren Kettle, Albion, 22:23.6
ALBION: 1. Kettle 22:23.6, 15. Amanda Weaver 22:58.1, 56. Rachel Derocher 23:58.9, 99. Megan Wickens 24:45.9, 109. Emily Morlock 24:55.0
LINK TO FULL WOMEN’S RESULTS