I remember the first time I lined up for a cross country meet at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble my freshman year of college in 2014. For the duration of the race, I felt as though I was traveling the world in 6,000 meters--first I was starting a cross country meet in Oberlin, OH as I ran on the familiarity of a flat grass path that had been thoroughly torn up by my predecessor’s spikes, then, as I made my way off of the grass and into the back loop of the course, I was atop the woodchip trails of Eugene, OR, then all of a sudden I was transported to Japan as I ran past Oberlin College’s Taiko drummers, who theatrically signal the race’s approach with the hypnotic beating of drums every year (hence the name “rumble”...or so I assume). After two iterations of this journey, I finally crossed the finish line, out of breath and covered in mud.

Such was the experience for the 947 athletes who competed in this year’s Rumble. Course conditions were wet again this year, but not even the slippery turns or sunken-in wood chips were enough to hold back Trine’s Evie Bultemeyer and the women from Carnegie Mellon, who took the wins in the women’s race, or John Carroll’s Alex Phillip, who nabbed the individual title on the men’s side, also leading his team to a first place finish. 

In the women’s race, Bultemeyer was challenged by UW Oshkosh’s Hannah Lorenz, who ran with her stride-for-stride for the majority of the race. The two separated from the rest of the field almost immediately, but Baldwin Wallace’s Alyssa Laughner and Hope Murphy, Carnegie Mellon’s Michelle Murray and Megan Baker, and Allegheny’s Megan Aaron took charge of the chase pack. 

By mile two, Case Western’s Jana Fisher, Ohio Northern’s Tessa Pitcovich, and Franciscan’s Alison Bryant had entered the chat, all three athletes making savvy moves toward the front as they prepared for their last mile of racing. Approximately ten seconds ahead, Lorenz was still hot on Bultemeyer’s heels.

Just as fans were starting to question if Lorenz would be the athlete to take down Bultemeyer, the frontrunner from Trine shifted gears and took control of the race. Lorenz started to fade away as Bultemeyer charged ahead for the win in a dominating 31 seconds over the rest of the field. Lorenz held on for second, and Allegheny’s Aaron crossed the finish line in third ahead of Case’s Fisher. 

Of the top ten finishers, Fisher, Pitcovich, and Wisconsin-Stevens Point Rachel Krouse seemed to move up best in the race, all three women having spent the first mile significantly back from the chase pack and the last mile well within the top ten. This level of savviness is expected from Fisher and Pitcovich, who are both experienced seniors, but comes across as impressive from the freshman from Stevens Point, who graduated Wauwatosa West High School in Milwaukee with a 5k PR of 19:32. Her finishing 6k time at Oberlin of 22:28 was over a 30-second collegiate PR. Though the North Region is highly competitive, it’s possible Krouse could advance to the NCAA Championship as an individual or with her team given how they fare in the next month of training.

The women from Carnegie Mellon took the team win, led by senior Murray. The women tacked up 121 points from front to back, a high score for a winning team, but enough to prove that they were the best in the field. They bested second-place team Allegheny by 18 points and third-place team Wisconsin-Stevens Point by 27 points. They also won the women’s open race, showing the sheer depth of their team and proving why they could be a top-20 team in the nation if they can put it together in the postseason.

In the men’s race, the victory was almost certain for JCU’s Phillip, though his trajectory to the win was quite impressive--he hung back to set the pace for teammates Andrew Miner, Jared Arnold, Jamie Dailey, and eventually, Ryan Champa, and then dropped the hammer after 5k to catch the race leaders and overtake them for the win. 

UW Whitewater’s Gunner Schlender took the field out at the gun, knowing that his team would have to post a strong performance if they wanted a shot at beating John Carroll. Carnegie Mellon’s Colin McLaughlin and Matthew Karee, as well as Franciscan’s Liam Galligan and Case Western’s Jack Begley followed, all wanting to get in good position early before hitting the rain-softened wood chips on the back half of the course just after the mile mark. 

It was at this point that Mount Union’s Jeff Joseph, who seemed to be keying off of conference-mate Phillip a few spots back, moved to the front of the race in a strategy similar to the one he employed on the pre-nationals course a few weeks ago. He must have realized Phillip did not have immediate plans to move up, so Joseph decided to take matters into his own hands. He continued to lead through almost 6,000 meters of the race, gradually stringing out the field with only UW Whitewater’s David Fassbender proving capable enough to match his pace. 

Runners Galligan, Schlender, Karee, and Begley started to fade back, right as Phillip began his ascent to the front, clearly given the O.K. from Head Coach Kyle Basista to conclude his pacing duties and allow his teammates to fend for themselves. By 5.8km into the race, Phillip had advanced to third, and as he emerged from the wood-chipped section of the course for the third and final time, Phillip had achieved a comfortable lead on the field. 

He crossed the finish line just under the 25 minute-mark and eight seconds ahead of second place Joseph, whose gutsy kick allowed him to hold his lead over Fassbender. 

Phillip’s teammates crossed the finish line in 12th, 14th, 16th, and 17th, good for a team score of 60 points, just enough to beat Whitewater’s 67-point finish. Whitewater’s frontrunner’s arguably ran a better race, finishing three guys in front of JCU’s #2, but as their fifth scorer started to move backwards, JCU’s Ian Pierson was planning his move from 20th place up to 14th, finishing as JCU’s third scorer, sandwiched tightly between Miner and Dailey. This might have been the kick that secured the victory for JCU, who then proceeded to finish two more unscored runners ahead of Whitewater’s fifth. Not to mention that they also placed second in the open race, further showcasing the depth on their team. D3GD had JCU winning this matchup, and they rose to the occasion.

Finishing behind Whitewater was the men’s team from Carnegie Mellon, who also showed extensive depth, as their team stole the victory in the open race. In fact, in the varsity and open races combined, Carnegie had seven runners finish within 12 seconds of each other after their last scorer. The time difference from the last scorer to the first-non-scorer was just seven seconds. Carnegie Mellon’s head coach, Tim Connelly, is in for a tough decision when it comes to choosing this team’s regional squad. 

As the Rumble drew to a close, teams began packing up their mud-stained tarps, preparing for the trip back to their respective region and another block of training before the post-season begins. On their journey back, they reflected on their performances, wondering if it was enough to crack the D3GD Top-32 rankings coming out later today. They thought about how competitive the line-ups were at Augustana, Connecticut College, and Rowan and how they’d stack up to the teams in these inter-regional mash-ups. 

It’s likely that nobody was actually thinking this, and in fact, they were probably just wondering which pizza they were going to split with their teammates from the Pizza Hut down the road. But now that bellies are full and long runs have rounded out the training week, D3GD has the answer.

Photo Credit: Gianini Venuto

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