THE OCCIDENTAL WEEKLY
November 16, 2011 - 11
Cross Country Dominates Division III West Region
Men’s team ties for first with Colorado College, heads to nationals
Courtesy of KeadrickWashington Members of the men’s cross country team proudly display their NCAA West Regional Championship plaque. They are preparing to compete at Division III Nationals this weekend in Winneconne, Wisconsin.
Riley Kimball The men’s and women’s cross country teams raced against the best teams in the NCAA West Region on Saturday, Nov. 12. The race, hosted by Occidental on Pomona’s campus, was close on both sides, with as many as three places separated by less than 25 points. In spite of the aggressive field, the number oneseeded men tied for first, and the women’s team, ranked seventh going in, exceeded expectations to take fourth place. Competing with a strong field, the men tied for first place with Colorado College. The men entered the race as the favorites. However,
with six of the seven running making their first appearance at Regionals, victory was no small feat. “For us to come away as co-champions is fantastic not because we ran amazingly well, but because those guys coped incredibly well with the pressure and expectations of being favorite,” said Coach Rob Bartlett. Their first place finish secures the men a spot at Nationals this Saturday, Nov. 19 in Winneconne, Wisconsin. All five Occidental men who scored finished in the top 35, earning them All-Region honors. “We were definitely running for each other, as cliche as that sounds,” said Sebi Devlin-Foltz (senior). The women, led by captain Anna Dalton (senior) and Megan Lang
(junior), finished in a similarly tight pack, with the front two girls also achieving All-Region finishes. The women faced a formidable set of opponents on Saturday, including nationally 4-ranked Claremont-MuddScripps, 20-ranked Lewis & Clark, 28-ranked Willamette and 35-ranked Whittier, making their showing the best of the season. Though ranked seventh entering the race, the women achieved a fourth place finish with their tightest spread of the season. With four of the top five Occidental women finishing in lifetime bests, they performed beyond expectations. “These women couldn’t have run any better or ended their season on a better note,” said Bartlett. Individually, Occidental pro-
duced a number of strong performances. Eric Kleinsasser (senior), fresh off of his fourth consecutive victory at the SCIAC meet, came in third, missing first place by just ten seconds. The three first-years who supported him at SCIAC, Colin Smith, Cole Williams, and Louis Jochems, were hot on his heels, with Sebi Devlin-Foltz (senior) closing out Occidental’s score in twentyseventh place. Dalton led the women alongside Lang, followed closely by Eliza Dornbush (senior), Sierra Walker (sophomore) and Jenny Wang (sophomore). All of the women scoring finished the 6000 meters between 22:40 and 23:14, a very tight spread in such a heated race. With Regionals over, the women
have completed their season, narrowly missing an At-Large slot at Nationals. Despite the disappointment, the team looks back positively on the season. “The race was a culmination of four years of running for Oxy, but this season was easily the most rewarding,” said Dalton. “We worked harder, ran further, and were a more cohesive team than we have been.” The men will have their last race of the season this Saturday at the NCAA Division III National Meet. Bartlett and the men are excited for this final race, the culmination of a season’s work. “At Nationals, all the pressure will be gone and all we’re going to have to worry about is running fast and having fun,” he said.
Rugby Scrums Division I Opponents in CSULB Tournament Sant Kumar Last year the men’s rugby team was one of the best in the country, making the national championship game. Following that success, they are ranked number one in the country for DIII rugby. Their showing in the 49er
rugby tournament proved this year’s team is ready to take the next step this year and win the championship. The men’s rugby team posted a 2-2 record in the Cal State Long Beach rugby tournament on Nov. 5. The Tigers played Division I schools because of the Blackshirts’ reputation as one of the best teams in the country. Men’s rugby played Advertisement two top-five Division I schools, University of Santa Barbara (USB) and Cal State University Long Beach (CSULB). They also played two talented Division I schools: University of San Diego (USD) and Pepperdine University. Overall, the men posted a 2-2 record in the tournament, losing to USB and CSULB while claiming victories over USD and Pepperdine. The tiger’s vast and speedy i mprovement over the four game stretch defined the tournament for the Blackshirts. The Blackshirts
Courtesy of Aja Sanneh The Blackshirts take on Cal State University Long Beach on Nov. 5. The men posted a 2-2 record for the weekend matches.
were shut out by USB and CSULB, losing 17-0 and 10-0, respectively. However, the team then learned from its mistakes, beating USD and Pepperdine, 16-0 and 17-0, respectively. According to the Tiger’s president, Matthew Nixon (senior), one of the reasons for their poor performance in the first two games was due to laziness and a lack of communication. They started the tournament playing lackadaisically on offense and defense, making mental mistakes such as dropping the ball and getting penalties. As a result, they gave up easy points, allowing opponents to get long runs and score. Nixon acknowledges that against teams like USB and CSULB, these type of mistakes cannot be made, as they will take advantage of them. Ryan Metzler (sophomore), who played in his first rugby games over during the tournament, was one of the reasons for the team’s victories over USD and Pepperdine.. In both games, Metzler scored a “try,” which is simi-
lar to a touchdown in football. However, instead of counting as six points, a try is worth five points. Along with Metzler, Barnaby Audsley (sophomore) galvanized the team’s offense by scoring a conversion kick, which is worth two points, against Pepperdine. Audsley has been playing rugby for many years, including a couple of years in England, where he played rugby. To Nixon, Audsley’s leadership on the field was evident. “Barnaby did a really good job directing people and telling them where to go. He’s one of the best players on our team in terms of understanding the game of rugby. Nixon also made sure to note Audsley’s confidence. As a result he’s one of the most confident players we have, and this rubs off on the other players. His leadership and advice was invaluable during the tournament,” Nixon said. As Sam Buckley (senior) suggests, the blackshirts better showing against USD and Pepperdine was also the re-
sult of involving more players on offense. “The last two games we included our backs more in the offense. As a result, we were able to spread the field more and involve our wings. This opened up our offense and allowed us to score more. The other teams’ defenses were scrambling to stop us,” Buckley said. Additionally, the experience of the team’s new coach only helps their chances to win the championship this year. Coach Stanford has been playing rugby for over 26 years, all over the world. He hopes to bring that experience to men’s rugby. “I focus on understanding the game of rugby, and why we do certain things both on offense and defense, aiming to improve the level of play for every player,” Coach Stanford said. The men’s rugby team may next be seen on Nov. 19 at home, when the team will play Whittier College, who will undoubtedly have their hands full against a team as strong as ours.