The Observer, November 3, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 9
Women's cross country team wins its first UAA title
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The women's cross country team continues to rewrite the history books. Last Saturday, the Spartans achieved their biggest accomplishment yet, capturing the UAA championship, which was held at Washington University in St. Louis. The title is the team's first UAA championship, and Case defeated Washington, the third-ranked team in the country, en route to the victory.
"I think it's a major accomplishment, not only that we won, but that we beat the third-ranked team in the country," said coach Kathy Lanese. "Most people don't know who Case is, and hopefully a win like this will help us gain exposure for the university and for our team, not just locally but nationally as well."
Throughout the season, the team has been led by a group of four outstanding runners: junior Esther Erb, seniors Stephanie Nothelle and Karyn Wheeler, and sophomore Kristen Bowhers. The four continued their frenzied paces in the UAA meet, all finishing in the top 15, along with sophomore Britta Kumley, who finished 15th with a time of 23:37.54.
"It was pretty shocking. I don't think any of us thought it was really that possible," said Erb, who finished second overall with a time of 22:14.63. "The scores were really close, and it was a pretty intense race, even from the front."
Nothelle followed Erb, finishing fourth in 22:16.57. Bowhers finished right behind Nothelle with a time of 22:26.88, and Wheeler was 13th with a time of 23:17.29.
After winning the conference championship, Case's ranking in the latest Division III poll improved to ninth in the country, but Washington is still ranked higher at fourth. After winning five consecutive meets, the team has done more than enough to earn national respect. However, the fact that Case is still ranked behind its UAA rival shows that the team has not yet gained full respect of the nation, and this will just give the team more motivation heading into the regional and national meets.
"We still don't have that national exposure," Lanese said. "Wash. U has had it for many of its sports for a number of years. We are just going to have to prove our case more."
The women recognize the importance of the upcoming regional race, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 11 at Hanover College in Indiana. The race will determine which runners qualify to participate in the national meet.
"The regional race is much bigger than UAAs, and it's our opportunity to qualify for nationals," Nothelle said. "We're going to need to try to race more as a team, and close the gaps in our top group.
Considering the team's string of victories, though, there does not appear to be a strong need to make any changes. The team will not have to adjust much to the six kilometer course at regionals either, since the UAA meet was the same distance.
"I think we'll approach this meet as we do all others," Bowhers said. "We will do our best to pump ourselves up without getting too nervous. It's good that we already have a 6k race under our belts now."
Judging by the team's performance over the last several weeks, the women appear in great shape to have an excellent showing at next week's regional meet. They are hoping to qualify for nationals as a team, and Lanese believes the team is more than capable of accomplishing that feat.
"We've won all of our Division III meets, and we want to continue to do that," Lanese said. "We will take it as a very serious meet. Our intent is to win it."
Winning the regional race would be an unprecedented accomplishment for the team. The women's program has never had a team qualify for the national race. (The men's team did it in 2003.)
"I potentially see three of our top runners finishing in the top 10," Lanese said about the regional race. "With the way we've been racing, that should be enough to qualify as a team for nationals."
For Lanese, having the team qualify for the national race would be the most rewarding part of the season.
"We have been kind of waiting for that big day," she said. "I feel blessed to be coaching a team with this talent and mindset. We have the mindset that the best is yet to come though, and that will be the greatest reward, competing at the national meet."
