This past weekend the Maroons traveled north to UW–Parkside to participate in the Lucian Rosa Invitational. The teams had varying degrees of success, with each result illuminating different aspects of the squads.
The men’s squad placed sixth out of 16 teams in the meet. While this result would seem disappointing given the men’s usual top four placements in meets, sixth place is a great sign of things to come for Chicago. The team traveled to Parkside without its top 11 runners, opting to let the veteran leaders rest for the meet this coming Saturday. Without their top runners, the Maroon squad was an exhibition of youth and exuberance. First-years Owen Melia (27:29.6) and Abe Herzog (27:38.7) both finished in the top 50 of the race, showing promise not only for the rest of the season, but for the rest of their collegiate careers. Melia was ecstatic with the team’s results, noting, “We rested our top runners and [we] still got sixth place!”
While their compatriots were recovering from their race, the members who didn’t travel were still hard at work. To give back to the running community, a few members of the team helped a blind man run the Chicago Marathon, running at his preferred pace to guide him throughout the course.
The women’s team also rested some of their top guns, and the remaining runners arrived in Wisconsin ready to make a statement. The team’s upperclassmen paced the squad, providing Chicago’s top four finishers. Fourth-year Catherine Young (18:54.3) and third-year Minnie Horvath (19:03.1) led the way for the Maroons, placing seventh and 10th respectively. Third-year Michelle Dobbs, fourth-year Maya Lewinsohn, and second-year Megan Verner-Crist rounded out the scoring for the South Siders. The team finished in fourth place with 96 points.
Horvath was proud of her team’s performance, remarking, “It was a great day to be a Maroon.”
Horvath additionally had nothing but praise for the Parkside Athletic Department, commenting that, “The course [they put together] was great.” Pleased with the course, Horvath was also excited about her own performance. “I knew it would be uphill for the first mile or so, which worked to my advantage since Salt Lake City is really hilly. I got out really well in the beginning and just raced!”
The men’s and women’s teams are preparing for the Brooks Invitational at UW–Oshkosh this weekend. The men are looking to perform admirably and crack the top 34, while the women are eager to defend their top 15 ranking at the large meet.
