Strong results for XU cross country

The men's and women's cross country teams battled more than fellow Ohio schools this weekend at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships.

Senior Caylin Howell led the women's team to a top five finish out of 47 teams in the five kilometer

race.

Howell paced the women's team with a time of 18:35.03, good enough for 18th overall on the women's side. Rounding out the top three for Xavier were sophomore sisters Clare and Abby Fischer, who finished with times of 18:40.66 for 23rd place and 18:43.46 for 27th place, respectively.

On the men's side, sophomore

Tom Ohlman finished first for the Musketeers with an eight kilometer race time of 25:32.66, fast enough for 14th place. Junior Ben Foley was seconds behind Ohlman with a finishing time of 25:40.51 for 21st place. Senior Keith Albrektson rounded out the top three for the men's team, crossing the line in 25:54.28 for 30th place.

Head coach Dan Flaute wasn't too concerned with the foul weather during the race.

"The weather slowed the times down for everybody. Since the weather is out of our control, the only thing we can do is run our race and not worry about it," Flaute said.

Flaute came away with mixed feelings about the race. "We had solid races on the girls' side but we struggled on the guys' side," Flaute said. "But every course is different and the conditions are always changing, so right now we just need to focus on sharpening our competitive side to improve for later in the season."

The Musketeers continue their season on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute, Ind. at the Pre-Nationals; this meet will feature 59 men's teams and 64 women's teams.