Marietta women take ninth and men finish 16th at All-Ohio Cross Country Championships
Robertson breaks 20-minute mark and places 14th in Division III

Oct. 10, 2008
DELAWARE, Ohio — Marietta cross country returned to action after a week layoff to compete at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday (Oct. 10) afternoon, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at the Delaware Golf Club. The Pioneer women collected 208 points to place ninth in the 19-team NCAA Division III field, while the Pioneer men compiled 451 points to take 16th among the 20 teams in the NCAA Division III field.

Cedarville won the women's overall championship with 74 points, while Case Western Reserve University took the D-III title with 52 points. Malone captured the men's overall title with 68 points, and Case Western Reserve made it a clean sweep in D-III with 35 points.

Junior Randi Robertson (Avon Lake) once again paced the Pioneer women, who placed 23rd among the 41 total teams—the race also included a NCAA Division I and a NCAA Division II/NAIA bracket. Robertson set a new career-best by breaking the 20-minute mark (19:51.1) and placing 14th on the five-kilometer course. Senior Jessi Larrison (Batavia) came through with a solid race, finishing 36th with a time of 20:42.1. Freshman Reba Leonard (Brookville) was the third Pioneer runner to cross the line; she took 49th place with a time of 20:57.4. Classmate Jennifer Emmert (Martinsburg, W.Va.) finished in 21:04.2 to take 52nd, while junior Kaity Smith (Essex Junction, Vt.) rounded out the scoring with a 57th-place finish after running a time of 21:13.4. Junior Shannon McDonald (Lorain/Amherst Steele) and junior Brenda Puckett (Eaton/Preble Shawnee) rounded out Marietta's top-seven. McDonald took 64th with a time of 21:25.5, while Puckett was 103rd with a time of 23:39.5.

"The women had a solid day," said Head Coach Derek Stanley. "Randi looked really good, and two through six ran together in a nice pack, which helped us finish in the top 10 as a team for the first time ever at this competition."

Marietta's men, who finished 35-of-42 overall, were led by junior Josh Mickle (Madison), who covered the eight-kilometer course in a team-best 29:00.8, which placed him 74th. Senior Joseph Wynes (East Aurora, N.Y.) was right behind him in 76th place, finishing with a time of 29:02.3. Junior Cody Thomas (North Olmsted) placed third for the Pioneers, taking 83rd with a time of 29:18.6. Sophomore Max Kenngott (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Mary) was the next across the line; he ran a time of 30:12.6 and placed 104th. Freshman Terrance Wallace (Westerville) capped the scoring with a 114th-place finish. He completed the race in 31:24.0. Junior Louie D'Amico (Shadyside) and freshman Adam Null (Davisville, W.Va./Parkersburg) completed Marietta's top-seven. D'Amico took 115th with a time of 31:26.9, while Null placed 126th and ran a time of 33:52.6.

"I am happy with the effort out of the men's team today," Stanley said. "Joe ran the race of his year, and Cody was really impressive as well. It was just not our day as a team."

Marietta will look to continue to build speed in preparation for the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships, which will take place in Marietta, Ohio, on Nov. 1. The Pioneers' next race is slated for Saturday (Oct. 18) morning when they compete at the Inter-Regional Rumble, hosted by Oberlin College at 10:30 a.m.