Results

It was the cross country teams' first trip to the East Region championships.  The women went in as favorites and the men as underdogs, but they shared the same goal: to qualify for the NCAA DII national championships.  Each team needed to finish third or better in the field comprised of three NCAA DII conferences.
 
While the women's qualification to DII nationals looked promising, they carried the burden of high expectations.  Winning is often most difficult when you're expected to.  However, they got the job done and finished at the top of the East Region.  Rachel Prutsman looked as smooth as ever.  She waited patiently for the right time; then, she darted to the finish.  She finished first in the field of 27 teams and covered the 6k course in 21:36.  It was Prutsman's second individual championship title in as many weeks.  Megan Hulton, Rachel Hust, and Rachel Hutchinson all finished in the top eight.  April Sablan, the Redhawks' final scorer, was 11^th.  All five of these ladies and Elizabeth Valento, who finished 18^th, earned All-East Region awards.  Roberts scored just 31 points.  Stonehill College (45 points) and St. Michael's College (121 points) earned the second and third qualifying spots.     
 
The women were looking to get in, qualify, and get out.  The men were in a much different position.  Qualifying for nationals would not be a relief like it was for the women; it would be the fulfillment of the season's number-one objective—an accomplishment that was three years in the making.  When Kevin Brown and Kyle Rapp were underclassmen, they traveled to St. Louis, MO in hopes of qualifying for the NAIA national championships.  They came up quite a bit short.  However, they immediately set their eyes on the future.  As new recruits joined the force at the beginning of the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Brown and Rapp shared their goal of making the DII national championships in 2014 and won their teammates to the cause.  The team grew in size, talent, strength, and experience.  At the beginning of this season, the goal of qualifying for DII nationals was not only still intact, but it was realistic—a long shot, perhaps, but doable. 
 
The last member of the men's scoring squad crossed the line at 1:47 p.m., but for 50 minutes teams could only speculate about the fate of their seasons.  Coaches and fans, who were watching the timer from a distance as he tallied the men's scores, scattered to cheer on the women when their race began.  The women were a third of the way through their 6k before the men's results were released.  Proud alum, Nick Hanggi, who had traveled nine hours to cheer on the Redhawks, took a quick look at the team scores and immediately sent out a flurry of text messages to all corners of the competition site to announce the men's qualification.  The small Roberts community that had assembled there at Mines Fall Park erupted in excitement.
 
The men put in hours and hours of hard work to prepare for the East Region championships, but it was an outstanding team race that earned them the honor of representing Roberts Wesleyan College in Louisville, KY at the DII Fall Festival.  Kevin Brown led the way as he has done so reliably this year.  He finished 9^th in the field and clocked 31:50 in his first collegiate 10k cross country race.  Justin Bender was the second Redhawk across the line for the first time this season.  He was followed closely by Thomas Rodger and Matthew Watson.  The three placed 17^th, 19^th, and 22^nd, respectively.  These four men earned All-East Region awards.  Roberts had two more runners in the top 30.  Keith Pease and Aaron Bellomo both came up big for Roberts finishing in front of #3 ranked Franklin Pierce's fifth runner. 
 
To put into perspective just how well the men raced on Saturday, here is a quick look behind the numbers.  Five of the top six men ran faster over the 10k distance than they have ever in an 8k race.  In other words, these runners ran a personal record for 8k and then continued on at that pace for another 2000 meters.  Since many cross country courses are often shorter than they are claimed to be, it is important to note that the course was indeed a full 10k.

It's off to nationals we go.  The team will head out on December 3^rd and compete at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park on Saturday, December 6^th.  That will bring the cross country teams' season to an end.