JCU Men’s and Women’s XC sweeps OAC Championship titles and breaks history
JCU Sports Information Department
The John Carroll University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Team after winning both OAC Championship titles on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Wilmington College.
Nov 1, 2021
The John Carroll University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams made history at this past weekend’s Ohio Athletic Conference Championship meet on Oct. 30, with both teams placing first overall for the only time in team history.
John Carroll’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country team entered the highly anticipated meet as the favorite to win in the OAC. The Blue Streaks lived up to expectations and demolished the competition with a whopping nine placements out of the top-15 runners in the men’s meet and seven in the women’s meet.
Among the top performers on the men’s side was Alex Phillip ‘23, who took the crown as OAC Champion. Jamie Dailey ‘22 and Ian Pierson ‘22placed fourth and fifth, followed by Ryan Champa ‘25 who stepped up big by taking sixth overall in his first ever conference meet.
OAC Championship winner and former U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association runner of the week Alex Phillip spoke to the Carroll News on the importance of the championship.
“Winning [the] conference as a team meant everything, for us to win the first one in school history and be able to give back to our coach Kyle Basista was really special,” exclaimed Phillip. “Hopefully this is the first of many to come for the program.”
On the Blue Streak’s Women’s side of the OAC Championship, they also won the title as OAC Champions competing at Wilmington College on Saturday, Oct. 30, with a total score of 35. Leading the Blue Streaks into victory was Sydney Jenko ‘23, who placed fourth overall in her first race of the season with a 6k time of 23:40.5. Other notable performers were Erica Esper ‘23 placing sixth, while Cameron Bujaucius ‘22 and Rory Vigrass ‘22 took seventh and eighth, respectively.
Behind the John Carroll Women’s Cross Country team was Mount Union (69 points), Ohio Northern (70 points), Baldwin Wallace (104 points), and Otterbein (133 points).
Both the JCU Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams will advance to Shelbyville, Indiana to compete at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Nov.13.
