Kim Chinn was B-W's top finisher at
nationals last fall and was national
runner-up in the steeplechase
in the spring.
BEREA, OHIO – The Baldwin-Wallace College women’s cross country team will look to defend its Ohio Athletic Conference championship and the men’s team will look to build on last year’s fifth-place conference finish when the 2010 cross country season begins this fall.
In addition to winning its 16th OAC crown with an outstanding 37 points, the women’s team placed fifth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet and 29th at the NCAA Division III Championships that was hosted by B-W last November. Overall, the Yellow Jacket women have qualified seven times for the NCAA national meet in the past 16 seasons.
Veteran Head Coach Dr. Bill Taraschke enters his 27th year at B-W and 20th as cross country coach with high expectations as he returns six of his top seven runners from last year’s women’s team and four of his top seven on the men’s side. Combined, 19 letterwinners return, including 12 for the women and seven for the men.
“We graduated our top runner (D’Arcy Hlavin) on the women’s side but we still have six of our top runners with national meet experience,” said Taraschke. “Winning the conference should be our first goal.”
“Our top runners are back for the men and we have the talent to move up into the top three this year,” said Taraschke.
Taraschke has built one of the most successful running programs in all of Division III during his tenure at B-W. He has led his track and cross country teams to a staggering 46 OAC titles, (including 12 in women’s cross country) and has been named OAC Coach of the Year or been a member of an OAC Coaching Staff of the Year on 34 separate occasions, most recently during the 2009 cross country season. In addition, Taraschke has guided 10 women’s cross country runners to OAC individual titles.
Leading the women’s squad this year will be senior Kim Chinn (Zanesville/West Muskingum), who is coming off a breakout performance at the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she was national runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Chinn will look to carry her momentum from the track to the cross country course this fall as she was fifth at the 2009 OAC Championships, 20th at regionals and a team-best 118th at the NCAA Meet, finishing the six-kilometer race in 23:45.6. She was the Yellow Jackets leading runner in three races last year and was an Academic All-OAC selection.
“A steeplechaser by nature has to be both strong and fast,” noted Taraschke. “Kim’s success in track should translate well and she should be our top runner.”
Joining Chinn are four All-OAC finishers including first-team selections sophomore Sarah Rospert (Milan/Edison) and senior Karin Coyne (Columbia Station/Columbia). Rospert finished third on the team at the OAC Meet and eighth overall individually, and Coyne earned her third straight All-OAC finish, placing 10th. Coyne also was tabbed Academic All-OAC.
Brian Gibbons placed seventh at the
OAC Championships last season.
Taraschke also returns All-OAC runners in seniors Katie White (Berea) and Krysten Kovach (North Royalton/Padua Franciscan). White finished 11th at the OAC Meet and Kovach was 13th. Kovach also was an Academic All-OAC and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV pick.
Also back are juniors Julie Kotesovec (Litchfield/Medina Buckeye) and Judy Patterson (Aliquippa, Pa./Monaca Center) as well as sophomores Lynne Fahy (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central), Tess Hoogeveen (Westerville/South), Shaina Kovatch (Parma/Valley Forge) and Lauren McGaughey (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton). Kotesovec was one of last year’s top seven runners.
On the men’s team, senior Brian Gibbons (Rocky River) returns after placing seventh at last’s year OAC Meet, finishing the 8K race in 25:44.60. He also had a 76th place finish at Regionals. Junior Zach Szablewski (Tiffin/Calvert) placed 22nd last year at the OAC Meet and led the team at Regionals, placing 60th in 27:18.39.
Also back from last year’s top five are junior Tom Wilkin (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) and sophomore Ken Janosko (Mentor). Janosko was 30th at the OAC Meet and Wilkin placed 39th. Other returning lettermen include junior Drew Beck (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy), sophomore Nicholas Jeffers (South Amherst/Firelands) and sophomore Andrew Ventura (Avon).
In addition, look for contribution from seniors Justin Brown (Sandusky/Senior) and Nate Nemire (Berlin Heights/Milan Edison), juniors Mike Sisko (Olmsted Falls) and Mark Warman (Strongsville), and sophomores Ryan Fallow (Medina/Senior) and David Gerding (Strongsville).
“Brian (Gibbons) missed the track season with an injury but we’re expecting him to bounce back and be one of our leaders,” said Taraschke. “Zach (Szablewski), Kenny (Janosko), Drew (Beck) and Tom (Wilkin) all had good track seasons and that should give us a good group of five. We also expect our other returning guys to step up to fill out our lineup.”
The men’s and women’s teams open the 2010 season at The College of Wooster Invitational on September 1 at 6:00 p.m. The 2010 OAC Championship Meet will be hosted by Otterbein College on October 30 at 11:00 a.m. and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet is November 13 at 11:00 a.m. in Holland, Mich. with Hope College serving as the host. The 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship Meet will be hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa on November 20 at 11:00 a.m.
“The biggest key for both the men and women is to come together as a team,” noted Taraschke. “When looking at cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field, cross is the one sport where the team performance as a whole matters most. Your sixth and seventh finisher is just as important as the top two. We have to get a good feeling for one another and run in a good pack.”
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 Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
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