Alyssa Arre, Photo Editor
The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Oberlin College in Ohio this weekend to compete in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble Meet on Saturday, Oct. 19. There were four races contested at the meet, with a 6km women’s event, 8km men’s event, and open races for both the men and women.
The course was set up to be flat and fast, but steady rain slowed down times and turned most of the course into a mud pit.
The women’s varsity race was the first to begin.
There were a total of seven teams in the top 35 nationally, with UR ranked at number 28. The women were led to a seventh place finish by sophomore Katie Knox, who ran a season-best time of 22:21, making her the twentieth runner to finish.
The next best racer for the YellowJackets was senior Danielle Bessette, whose career-best time of 22:39 was good enough for 36th place. The remaining scorers for the ‘Jackets were juniors Victoria Stepanova, Jen Klemenz, and Caitlyn Garbarino, who finished with times of 23:00, 23:04, and 23:55, respectively.
UR’s two scoring displacers were freshmen Anne Peterson and Samantha Kitchen, who both finished within seconds of the 24-minute mark.
The men’s varsity race was the second race of the day. Four teams ranked in the top-35, including UR, participated in the event. The men ran to a solid fourth place finish, with senior Adam Pacheck coming across the line first for the YellowJackets in 5th place and a career best time 25:30.
Fellow senior’s Yuji Wakimoto and John Bernstein were next for the ‘Jackets, both finishing in the top thirty. Junior Drew Zeccola followed, recording a season best time of 26:33. Freshman Eric Franklin rounded out the scorers for UR in 75th place with a time of 26:50. Sophomore Jeremy Hassett and senior Justin Roncioli were the scoring displacers.
The women’s and men’s open races took place next under the rapidly deteriorating course conditions, which resulted in considerably slower times than what would be expected with more favorable weather. Freshman Gabby Hernandez and senior Brian Barker were the first Rochester runners to cross the line in the women’s and men’s races.
Both teams will look to build on their performances at the Oberlin meet when they compete in the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships hosted by Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Pacheck is a member of the class of 2017.
