Women pack away Bowling Green

by Steph Woody
Staff Writer

The only smell sweeter than a beautiful fall morning before a cross country meet is the smell of victory after winning one.

  The Ohio women's cross country team experienced both sensations on Saturday, along with a taste of revenge. The Bobcats defeated Bowling Green in the first dual meet of the season at the Ohio University Golf Course, 20-45.

  "We are off to a good start," Coach Elmore Banton said. "We paid them back from last year and the main thing is we competed well."

  Bowling Green's Joy Echler won the race, but Ohio placed the next six runners. Mary Reynolds took second place with a time of 18 minutes and 52 seconds. She was followed by teammates Heather Halderman and Katie Fiala, who finished in 19:16 and 19:31, respectively.

Ohio runner Kelly Felter placed fifth in 19:38 and teammate Beth Agostino sixth in 19:42 to round out the scoring for the Bobcats.

Ohio's solid pack running might have led to the victory, but Banton said for the Bobcats to be successful they need to close the gap from the first runner to the fifth runner to 20 seconds. On Saturday, the split was 53 seconds.

  "Katie, Heather and Mary really went after Echler today," he said. "We have three in the front group running about the same. If you can do that as a team, you're set."

  Fiala said Ohio's pack will tighten as the season progresses.

  "We just need to stick closer together, but that will come in time," she said. "Once we get more workouts in, we will come together more."

  At this point in the season, the Bobcats are still practicing twice a day, alternating between long runs and short interval runs. Banton said the team should continue the schedule until at least the middle of the season.

  "We can't back off now," he said. "If we did, we'd be resting too early."

  Reynolds said the Bobcats plan to continue working hard at practice.

  "We're all into it," she said. "We can really do something if we all run together."

The win gives Ohio a 2-0 record going into its next meet against MAC opponents Western Michigan, Kent, Marshall and Buffalo.

"We'll see four MAC schools and that will let us know where we stand early on," Banton said.

  Ohio's runners will take their mark at 10 a.m. Sep.15 at the Ohio University Golf Course.