By Atticus Brigham

On a balmy Halloween afternoon the Dickinson Devils cruised to victory over a strong Haverford squad, missing a perfect score for the meet by two seconds. Missing one of their top runners due to H1N1, the Goats’ put only one man in front of Dickinson’s 5th, but had nine in the top 16, to finish second in front of Johns Hopkins. Lead by Emily Lipman’s individual victory, the Bees placed third behind Johns Hopkins and Dickinson.

The day started off with the Women’s varsity 6 km race. Defending Conference cross country champion Laura Paulsen of Johns Hopkins was favored to repeat. Yet Haverford’s Emily Lipman ‘12, whose teammates have labeled her the most enthusiastic on the team, had to gumption to take the title back to Bee country. Going out behind the lead pack in an effort to evenly pace the race, Lipman caught up to the leads a third of the way through the race and proceeded to pummel the competition with brutal surges as the competition dropped like flies.

Lipman opened up such a large gap over the middle of the race that Paulsen’s kick over the last half mile only put her within seven seconds of the champ. Harper Hubbeling ’11, Liz Zoidis ’11, Kaitlyn Shank ’12, and Andrea Tocci ’13 rounded out the Bees’ scoring pack.

Zoidis said, “There are both positive and negative elements of not racing as a pack. Some girls had break out races, namely freshman Andrea Tocci, and others did not perform up to the level they expected to. Even though we weren’t together the whole time we could see each other on the course, which helped push everyone to better races.”

It was a much different story for the Bryn Mawr Owls. Led by Jessica Varney ’10, the Owls finished last among the ten teams, not far behind Ursinus, with 289 points. The Mawrtyrs went out near the back of the field and did not make any collective surges to pick up spots during the race.

The Goats’ performance did not live up to the high expectations that have become ingrained in the program. Although they ran with the Devils from the beginning, many fell off of the Dickinson pack halfway into the race. A soggy course, wind, and the exceptionally warm weather slowed down times on the relatively flat course. The Goats were led by co-captain Anders Hulleburg ’11 and Andrew Sturner ‘12, who placed fifth and eighth respectively. Saturday’s disappointment was reminiscent of last year, when Dickinson ended the Goats’ streak of 15 consecutive Centennial Conference titles on the same course. The next two weeks mark a time of reflection, adjustment, training, and preparation for the D3 Midwestern Regional.

Facing much of the same competition, the Bees will need to place in the top two to guarantee a trip to Nationals. Their chances of surpassing Dickinson look good.

Zoidis said, “[Coach] Riz really trains us to peak for Regionals. We were all a little sore coming off of a workout before Conferences.

The Bees will taper over the next two weeks to give themselves a shot at continuing their season into late November. Bleats and Buzzes will be heard at Lehigh on Saturday, November 14. The Goats are expected to qualify for Nationals, needing only to finish in the top four in a strong region that is expected to receive two at-large bids.

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