The men’s and women’s cross country teams saw strong performances
by their top runners this past weekend at the National Catholic Championship.
Both Xavier cross country teams took sixth place in their races in a meet that consisted of the top Catholic universities from across the country.
Leading the men’s side was junior
Tom Ohlman, who set a personal
record with a time of 24:40. Ohlman’s time is now the second fastest 8K time in the history of Xavier cross country. Ohlman placed sixth in the race that featured
strong competition from Notre Dame and Duquesne.
“I was very happy with how Tom ran. He battled it out in the lead pack with five or six other guys and was with them until the last half mile,” head coach Ryan Orner said. “It was great to have him up there in such a strong race.”
The men’s team placed sixth overall out of 34 teams and posted
a score of 208.
Another impressive performance
on the men’s side was freshmen Austin Winter, who completed his first collegiate 8K with a time of 26:59.
For the women’s team, junior Clare Fischer also set a personal record at the meet by finishing with a time of 18:00 in the women’s
5K. Her time was the fifth fastest 5K in the history of the Xavier women’s program.
While the team is still battling injuries with three of the varsity runners, junior Abby Fischer returned
to the team and finished with a time of 19:00.
One runner who has quickly contributed to the team is freshman
Sarah Mazzei, who has already
been a part of the top five on the team in the last two meets. Mazzei finished with a time of 18:32 and was third on the team.
“Sarah is extremely talented coming out of high school in Cincinnati and I think that she is going to be one of our top girls by the end of the year,” Orner said.
The women’s team finished sixth overall and were 103 points ahead of the next best team.
After three straight weekends of competition, the team will have next weekend to rest. The team will then travel to Cedarville, Ohio for the All-Ohio Championships.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025