Tigers On the Trails for 2008
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2008) – In November of 2007, for the first time in a decade, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams captured SCIAC Titles in the same season. This fall the women’s squad welcomes back three of their top five runners and are favored to defend their SCIAC title, while the men’s team will likely undergo a rebuilding as four senior runners graduated and one will miss the season with an injury.
The women will be led by the 2007 First Team All-SCIAC trio of senior Rachel Keylon and juniors Denali Halsey, and Grace Peck. Seven other runners will be back for more, while Oxy welcomes one of the most talented recruiting classes in more than 10 years.
A year ago Halsey and Peck finished among the SCIAC Top 10 at championships and were also named to the NCAA DIII All-West Region Team. Peck, in particular, should be a force to be reckoned with in the SCIAC this fall following a 2008 track season in which she broke Occidental’s 3000m steeple chase school record and earned a birth at the NCAA DIII National Championships.
The freshman duo of Meghan Wahlen, Sadie Mohler and Anna Dalton join the Tigers in Southern California from Eugene, OR, Seattle, WA and Anchorage, AK, respectively. Each of these runners broke the 19:00 minute mark during high school 5K races and have finished highly in the respective state championships. Claire Larson (Columbus, OH) will also give cross country a shot after playing field hockey and running the 800m at the Ohio State Meet last spring.
“I'm very excited about our recruiting class and believe that we have the capability of improving on last year's performances as individuals and as a team,” said Head Coach Rob Bartlett.
On the men’s side things will be a little bit more difficult to defend. A group of veterans led Oxy to an 18th in the NCAA Division III Championships in 2007 after claiming back-to-back SCIAC titles in 2006 and 2007. Upon the graduation of three of the top four runners in the conference, including All-American, West Region Runner of the Year and SCIAC Athlete of the Year Kevin Chaves, and All-American Alex Ramon, along with an injury to sophomore Second Team All-SCIAC runner, RJ Infantino, the Tigers have some shoes to fill.
Among the eight runners returning to the course include 2007 First Team honorees Keith Blumenfeld (’09) and David Martinez (’09). Blumenfeld finished third at SCIAC championships behind teammates Chaves and Galen Smith, placed 109th at the NCAA championships and will contend for the 2008 individual SCIAC title.
Three talented freshmen joining the Tiger squad include Eric Kleinsasser (La Crescenta, CA), Will Hollingsworth (Mira Costa, CA) and Jeff Ross (Iowa City, IA). Kleinsasser boasts an impressive high school personal record of 15:22 in the 5K entering his first collegiate season while Hollingsworth qualified for the California State Meet last fall and Ross finished ninth at the Iowa 1A State Meet in 2007.
“The success of this team will be dependent on the returning athletes stepping it up coupled with the incoming runners making an immediate impact to give the Tigers their third championship in as many years,” Bartlett, who was named the West Region Coach of the Year in 2007, shared.
Occidental harriers return to campus August 25 and will compete for the first time this fall on Saturday, September 6 at UC Irvine.
