In their final race before the NCAA Regional Championships, the Kenyon cross-country teams competed in the Wooster Twilight 5K on Friday, Nov. 5. The race was unscored, but it served as a chance to get miles in ahead of the Regional Championships this coming Saturday.
The Ladies had five runners competing out of a field of 45. Finishing seventh overall and first for the Ladies was Hailey Napier ’22, with a time of 20:05.9. The only Kenyon runner competing to have previously run in this race, Napier shaved almost a full minute off her 2019 time and finished 20 spots higher. Coming in next for Kenyon, with nearly identical times of 21:01.4, were Nina Beardsley ’24 and Freya Benson ’24, who placed 17th and 18th, respectively. Closing out the Ladies’ finishers were Jada Swearingen ’24, who placed 24th with a time of 21:19.4, and Lorien Kauffman ’24, who took 29th place with a time of 21:38.7. The entire Ladies team finished with season bests in the 5K.
Meanwhile, the Lords took to the starting line half an hour later, with four runners competing against runners from three other schools. In a field of 31 runners, all of the Lords’ runners finished in the top 25. Pacing the Lords was Jason Montgomery ’23, earning an 11th-place finish with his time of 16:49.6. Ben Stillions ’22 was the Lords’ next finisher, placing 17th in 17:21.8. Six seconds later, Will Dean ’23 took 18th place with a time of 17:27.8. Rounding out the field for Kenyon was Will Spohn ’22 in 23rd place, with his time of 18:06.9. Both Montgomery and Stillions saw improvements from their 2019 times in this season’s race. As with the Ladies, all of the Lords’ runners achieved season bests in the 5K in this race.
The teams will look to finish their season strong at the Regional Championships, the first since 2019. In that meet, the Ladies finished 11th, while the Lords took 31st. After disappointing results in the NCAC Championships, both teams will look to impress on the regional stage, with a trip to the National Championships on the line for both individual runners and teams. The Regional Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 13, in Shelbyville, Ind., with the races starting at 11 a.m.