The Observer, November 17, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 11
Women runners win regional
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The dream season for the women's cross country team continues to get better. Last week, the women increased their winning streak to six by winning the program's first ever regional championship. The title also qualified the team for the NCCA championship for the very first time.
Case defeated Calvin College, 53-57, to earn the regional championship held at Hanover College in Indiana.
"This is as big as you can get," coach Kathy Lanese said of the title. "This has never happened in Case's women's program. It's huge. All season long, I've preached that all I want is forpeople to know who Case is, and people know now. People went from not knowing who Case is to [recognizing it] as a national threat. I can't put into words how excited I am. It's off the charts."
The race was the closest victory that the women have had in a while.
"[Calvin] had us beat at about a mile and a half," Lanese said. "It looked like they had us beat. Their fifth girl fell back quite a ways from their group. Their coaches were telling them that they had to keep their position because the girl was falling back more."
That's where Case's Britta Kumley entered the picture. She finished fifth on the team, 29th overall and more importantly, six spots ahead of Calvin's fifth runner. Her strong finish ensured the victory for Case. Lanese and the coaching staff were aware of the importance of her improving her finish and gave her animated words of encouragement late in the race.
"I knew Calvin had a really strong pack so I was pretty surprised when they told me that Calvin's 5th was catchable," Kumley said. "But [the coaches'] intensity convinced me that it was critical that I pass that pack in front of me."
Feelings were mixed among team members regarding whether or not they thought they would win the regional championship.
"I didn't really think we could do it," junior Esther Erb said, who finished second overall in 22:10.9. "To be honest, we weren't really looking for a win. We just wanted to go to nationals. Second place would have gotten us there just as well, but our competitive attitude on the course carried us through to the win."
The Spartans finished with three runners in the top 10 and two in the top five. Senior Stephanie Nothelle finished right behind Erb in third place with a time of 22:11.8. Sophomore Kristen Bowhers placed eighth (22:41.5), and senior Karyn Wheeler took 11th (22:56.4).
The news about their win was initially unclear as the Spartans finished the race.
"I thought when I finished that too many Calvin runners had finished in front of me, which is mostly why I was so surprised when I heard we won," Bowhers said. "As we were leaving for our cool down, a parent shouted across the field to us that we won."
The only meet that the women did not win was the Bill Sudeck Classic Invitational, the very first meet of the season. The consistency they have showed since that meet has been remarkable. Coach Kathy Lanese cited the team's preparation and confidence as reasons why they have been so steady this season.
"After every race, I redo the stats and plan practices around what they achieve in a race," she said. "It's all realistic. What they do in practice transfers to what they are capable of doing in a meet. I try to engrain that in their brains. It instills some confidence in them. I tell them 'this is where you belong, your stats prove it.'"
The fact that the team is so close-knit has also certainly helped build that consistency.
"Saturday we called each other's names during the race to make sure everyone was staying together," Bowhers said. "Doing this not only intimidated other teams but kept us all together right where we needed to be."
Staying loose before a big race doesn't hurt either.
"Singing the hokey pokey on the starting line definitely helped us keep loose and warm before the race began," Bowhers said.
Winning the UAA championship the previous week by defeating nationally ranked Washington University of St. Louis was a monumental task, but last weekend's victory seemed to top them all.
"I think winning regionals was even more exciting than winning UAA's," Bowhers said. "Winning UAA's was great, but winning regionals qualified us for nationals, which I think made it more important to all of us."
The continued success throughout the season has earned the Spartans more and more respect. However, all that means nothing when it comes to nationals.
"Nationals is where everything comes down," Erb said. "Regionals don't really mean that much because the better teams and individuals sometimes lay back there to save up for nationals. This Saturday is when everything is on the line and nothing else matters about the season. No one will remember the season's polls after the results are out."
Lanese said it is not out of the realm of possibility for the team to finish first at nationals.
"After looking at everybody in the nation, it's anybody's race," she said. "We could finish number one. We must keep doing what we have been doing all season with the same mindset."
After winning six consecutive meets when no one thought they could, it is hard to bet against them.
