Freshmen Pat Burns (left) and Melissa Bresnahan (right) have helped build the resumes of the Blue Streak cross country teams in 2009
The John Carroll women's and men's cross country teams are both aiming high this weekend at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held this Saturday at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio.
Both teams would like to finish higher than last season, with the women's squad adding the bonus goal of competing for the title.
The women's 6K race will begin at 11 a.m. on the course located on the Wilmington campus, while the men's race is schedules to start at 12 noon. The top 18 runners will be honored with All-OAC accolades.
Click here to access the official website of the 2009 OAC Championships. results will be posted on the site following the conclusion of the competition.
Last season, Ohio Northern captured the championship title and John Carroll finished in fourth place. The Blue Streaks have been training throughout the year and with the addition of younger runners, they hope to be competitive among the OAC teams.
Recently at the 2009 All-Ohio race, John Carroll finished fourth among OAC schools, 11th among Division III schools and 20th overall. Freshman Ashley Aberl led the Blue Streaks with a time of 19:30.8 on the 5000 meter course. She finished 27th among runners from all divisions, sixth among Division III competitors and second among OAC competitors.
The John Carroll University men's cross country team will be looking to improve upon last year's eighth place finish. Leading the way for JCU will be sophomores Jake Smith and Jeff Sigmund, who both placed in the top five on last year's team in their rookie campaigns. Smith has been the first Blue Streak across the finish line in all six races so far this season, with Sigmund the next runner from John Carroll in five of the six races.
In the 20-team event All-Ohio Championships held on October 2nd, the Blue Streaks placed 15th overall. All ten OAC teams competed, and JCU was the eighth best team in the conference, besting the efforts of both Muskingum and Capital.
The OAC championships will be followed by the NCAA Division.III Regional Championships will be hosted by Rose Hulman (Terre Haute, Ind.) on November 14, and the NCAA Division III National Championships host by Baldwin-Wallace (Cleveland, OH) on November 21.
