Bill Taraschke
BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College women’s cross country team enters this Saturday’s November 21, 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship Meet at Highland Park Golf Course in Beachwood, Ohio with absolutely nothing to lose.
The Yellow Jackets, the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference champions, fifth place finishers at last weekend’s NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Region meet and at-large team qualifiers to the national meet hope to run their best race of the season, according to 25th-year Head Coach Dr. Bill Taraschke.
“We have absolutely nothing to lose,” said Taraschke, who has led B-W track and cross country teams to 47 OAC titles and has been the Division III National Coach of the Year twice. “We told the ladies just to go out and run their best race of the year and have alot of fun. Represent B-W and our program with the same class that they have all season and don’t leave anything on the course. Give it 110 percent effort and have no regrets.
“I am so proud of this special group of runners,” continued Taraschke. “They have worked so hard to get to this point.”
Led by senior 2008 OAC Co-Runner of the Year D’Arcy Hlavin (Berea) and junior Kim Chinn (Zanesville/ West Muskingum), Taraschke’s seven-member squad consists of six All-OAC runners. The others who will compete this weekend include juniors Karin Coyne (Columbia Station/ Columbia), Krysten Kovach (North Royalton/ Parma Padua Fransiscan) and Katie White (Berea), sophomore Julie Kotesovec (Litchfield/ Medina Buckeye) and freshman Sarah Rospert (Milan/ Edison).
 D'Arcy Hlavin |
 Kim Chinn |
 Karin Coyne |
 Krysten Kovach |
 Katie White |
 Julie Kotesovec |
 Sarah Rospert |
At the OAC Championship Meet on October 31 at Wilmington College, Hlavin placed third, Chinn fifth and Rospert eighth to each earn All-OAC accolades, and Coyne was 10th, White 11th and Kovach 13th to earn honorable mention All-OAC accolades. Kotesovec rounded out the group in 34th place of 115 total runners. At last weekend’s NCAA Regional Meet, Hlavin placed 16th and Chinn 20th to each earn All-Region honors. In addition, Coyne was 36th, Rospert 41st, Kovach 49th, White 54th and Kotesovec 119th of 231 total runners.
“The last two weeks, our women have been exceptional,” said Taraschke, who has spent many, many hours working effortlessly at the championship meet course in Beachwood along with assistant coach Eric Schmuhl.
“We have run well as a pack all season,” said Taraschke. “Obviously, D’Arcy and Kim are our two top runners and overall we have good balance which has gotten increasingly better as the season has progressed. We are extremely proud of our runners, including those who weren’t able to run at the regional meet due to the seven-person limit.”
Taraschke also is excited to have B-W, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and the City of Cleveland host the meet.
“This is a great opportunity for B-W to host the championship meet and amplify the image of the College and Greater Cleveland,” said Taraschke. “We also would like to thank the Greater Cleveland Sports Commision for its efforts. They have been outstanding to work and coordinate with. We think that the championship event will offer exciting and outstanding competition, and it is a great family activity to view.”
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter@bwathletics.com.
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