The Xavier cross country team made history this weekend as junior Tom Ohlman broke the school record in the 8,000-meter run.
Overall, the men’s team placed 13th out of 24 teams, and the women’s team finished 37th in their race at the NCAA pre-nationals
cross country race.
Ohlman crossed the line in 24:28, ten seconds faster than the previous record set by Tommy Kauffmann, who was actually at the meet to congratulate Ohlman on his achievement.
Head coach Ryan Orner was impressed by what happened at the meet.
“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment
for him [Tom], and we’re all very proud of him. Last week he did a particularly tough workout at faster-than-race pace so we knew it was only a matter of time before he broke the record,” Orner said.
Not far behind Ohlman was senior Hank Geer who crossed the line second for the Musketeers with a time of 25:07.
Freshman Austin Winter continues
to have an impressive rookie
season, finishing fifth on the team with a time of 26:36.
The women’s team also made history for the program collectively
by being placed in the women’s seeded race at pre-nationals.
Their race featured top programs
such as Oregon and last years’ national champion, Georgetown.
“It was a great experience for our women’s program. It’s a very good opportunity for us because
it gets our name out there alongside the top programs in the country and helps us with recruiting,”
Orner said.
Juniors Abby and Clare Fischer led the way for the women.
Clare Fisher was the top-placing
Musketeer and now holds the fourth-fastest 6,000-meter time for the women’s program.
Her twin sister Abby Fischer ran the race in a time of 22:14, which placed her at ninth on the all-time list.
Another impressive performance
on the women’s side was junior Chelsea Hoffmaster, who beat her personal record by over a minute and placed 215th overall.
Because of the size and competitiveness
of the race the team was forced to take a different approach to the race, which affected
their overall places.
“The race forced the girls to go out a lot harder than they usually
would because of the size of it. This caused some of them to suffer in the second half of the race. Overall they might have raced better against smaller competition
but having a meet of this caliber is going to help them mature as runners,” Orner said.
Next for the team is the Atlantic 10 championships in Philadelphia on Oct. 27. The team hopes to improve upon their results from last year, and both teams are aiming for a top-three finish at the meet.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025