The Kenyon men’s and women’s cross country teams both earned top-five finishes last week when they competed in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble. The women placed fourth and the men took fifth against a competitive field of Division III programs. The women’s team scored 134 points in the 6K race, while the men totaled 160 points in the 8K competition. Both teams turned in very strong individual performances, including several top-30 finishes.

Women: The women were led by Lucie Prior ’28, who finished 16th out of 188 runners with a time of 23:24.4. Not far behind her was Ellie Allan ’30, who finished in 19th place at 23:28.2, giving Kenyon two runners in the top 20.

Behind Allan was Olivia Ide ’27, who finished in 23:49.9, good for 27th place. Katherine Novak ’30 placed 31st with a time of 23:52.2. Novak recorded a personal best, as did teammate Eliza Herber ’30, who finished 42nd with a time of 24:09.0. These personal bests from first years helped cement Kenyon’s fourth-place finish. Denison University finished ahead of the Owls with a score of 106, DePauw University with 99 points and the overall winner, Case Western Reserve University, with a point total of 42.

Men: As for the men’s team, it was also a successful weekend. Noah Berg ’29, who placed 15th out of 178 competitors with a time of 26:28, was the first Owl across the finish line. Behind him was Charlie Menzel ’28, who finished 26th at 26:47, and following closely behind Menzel was Andrew Rich ’30, who finished 29th in 26:49.7, giving Kenyon three runners in the top 30.

Rounding out the scoring for the men’s team were Evan Blenkinsop ’30, placing 51st with a time of 27:13 and fellow newcomer Austen Boyd ’30 with a time of 27:27, earning him 62nd place.

Case Western also won the men’s race with a score of 23 points, followed by DePauw with a point total of 137, Baldwin Wallace University with 144 and Denison with 146.

Both Kenyon’s men and women will now turn their attention to the NCAC Championships on Oct. 31, which will also take place at Oberlin.

Charlie Menzel ’28 is an opinions assistant for The Kenyon Collegian.