Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) men’s and women’s cross country teams kicked off their postseason run Saturday in Salem, VA, where Roanoke College played host to this year’s ODAC championships. Senior Bellamy Immanuel led the men’s side with a 12th-place finish, which earned him a spot on the All-ODAC second team. Senior Jenna Weaver led the way for the Royals on the women’s side.
“The women’s race was amazing,” said Coach Bob Hepler. All seven Royal runners performed well, including a couple of personal records (PRs). Weaver crossed the 6k line at 23.38.5 seconds, which was good for 29th. Junior Elili Asefa, junior Lauren Kauffman, and first-year Erin Loker followed closely behind while finishing 32nd, 33rd, and 34th, respectively.
After the race, Weaver talked about her execution, “I felt like I followed the plan for the race that Bob and I had talked about, to do the first mile a little more reserved and then really pick people off as best I could.”
Senior Halie Mast, a member of the women’s soccer team, also competed along with first-year Ella Richer, and sophomore Zoe Clymer. Coach Hepler said, “Halie Mast is my hero.” Mast, who is one of the team’s best track runners, was fortunately able to run in the ODAC meet in the morning prior to playing her last soccer game of the season in the afternoon.
Weaver also noted the impressive consistency and quality shown by the Royals team finishing so close together, “I think it goes to show how we really push each other and inspire each other to be better. It’s something that I’m really proud of for helping to foster on the team.”
On the men’s side, Immanuel took a very aggressive first four miles to the race, which had him leading through the first 7 kilometers. “I felt in control until 6.5k, then things started going south when the pack caught up to me at 7k,” he said. Immanuel ended the race falling to 12th, crossing the finish line with a time of 25:24.5.
First-years Jakob Gerlach and Luke Buckwalter had quality races in their first ODAC championships. Gerlach ran a time of 28:13.8, which was good for 60th while Buckwalter finished 75th with a time of 29:29.2
Sophomores Caleb Metzler, Ethan Kanagy, Charlie O’Neil, Ben Huyard, Noah Buckwalter, Alex Belisle, and seniors Will Bartel and Nate Lehman also competed for the Royals.
The 12th-place finish for Immanuel wasn’t what he had in mind, especially after leading the majority of the race. “I don’t think in particular things went well,” he said. However, Immanuel expressed his satisfaction with “being able to get across the finish line with all the pain [he] was feeling in the last kilometer.”
Despite the disappointing finish in ODACs, Immanuel has a positive outlook with regionals in the near future. “We learn from failures and it’s just going to make me better next time I try executing this tactic that I did at ODACs because now my muscles are going to be familiar with it,” he said. The Royals will be in action again on Saturday, Nov. 16 for the NCAA South Regional Championship as they look to make a push to the national meet. The men’s 8k will begin at 10 a.m., with the women’s 6k at 11 a.m.
