The Hopkins Women’s Cross Country team continued to display their dominance this season, claiming their ninth straight Centennial Conference Championship this past weekend in Haverford, Pa. With 21 total team points, the women were virtually unchallenged from the start.
Keeping with their pack-running strategy, the Blue Jays placed their seven varsity runners all within the top 10. From the gun, the Blue Jays went off the line in a dominating fashion. All the Jays funneled to the front of the race where they were able to settle into a comfortable stride.
Only 36 seconds separated the five scoring Blue Jays through the 6,000-meter race, the exact amount of separation between the five in their previous showing at the Rowan Inter-Regional Battle.
Again the Jays displayed their ability to race in a tight pack, which becomes ever more crucial during championship season. They also showed off their depth by placing 10 runners in the top 25, all finishing within two minutes of each other.
Sophomore Natalia LaSpada explained the Jays’ strategy approaching the race.
“As we have been doing for most of the season, the race plan for Saturday was to focus on pushing the last 2k,” LaSpada said. “By moving up in the last 2k we were able to show our strength as a team.”
The Jays proved their strength as a team by placing four runners on the All-Centennial Conference First Team and four more on the All-Centennial Conference Second Team.
Sophomore Felicia Koerner, who has led the Jays in every race so far this season, once more led the team to victory. From the gun Koerner dominated the field of runners, winning the individual title more than 17 seconds ahead of the second finisher.
Even more impressive, Koerner’s time of 20:56 set a new Centennial Conference record, making her the first to run the 6,000-meter course in less than 21 minutes. After demonstrating her dominance throughout the 2016 season, Koerner was named the Centennial Conference Runner of the Year. The sophomore became the seventh individual conference champion and the fifth in a row for the Blue Jays.
Freshman Rebecca Grusby also had an impressive individual performance, finishing fourth for the Blue Jays and fifth overall. Grusby was honored as the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year for her efforts this past weekend and her consistent contribution to the Jays’ top five.
As for the men, Hopkins would finish second in the team scoring for the third straight year. This time the Jays would only lose by nine points behind first place Haverford. The men’s finish proved that being unable to execute pack-running, especially in championship races, can be consequential.
Hopkins would be the first team with two runners across the line, led by graduate student Schaffer Ochstein and junior Louis Levine, who finished third and fourth respectively. Hopkins would then be the first team with their top four runners across the line in eighth and ninth.
However, the team score cannot be tallied until the fifth runner is across the line. Unfortunately for the Jays, their fifth runner would not cross the line for a full 45 seconds after their fourth finisher.
Although the Jays would record their best score since the team won the Centennial Conference Championship back in 2013, Haverford was able to capitalize on the Jays’ weakness. The Fords took advantage of the large gap between the Blue Jays and got their fifth runner across the line before the Blue Jays could tally a team score.
As the championship season continues, the Blue Jays will move onto the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, where they will look to qualify for NCAAs. The women seek to defend their ninth straight Mideast Regional win. Meanwhile the men will return after a fourth-place finish in 2015. The race will be held on Nov. 12 in Center Valley, Pa.
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