Men's Cross Country | 8/30/2025 3:03:00 PM

Gambier, Ohio - The Oberlin cross country team raced yesterday at the Port Kenyon Opener, taking their only chance to preview November's conference championship course. The race featured four other North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) teams: Denison University, Kenyon College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Wittenberg University. With stiff conference competition, the women's team finished fifth with 121 points, while the men's team secured a second-place finish, recording 57 points.

"It was very exciting to have so many of our first-years compete in their first collegiate cross country race!" Head Coach Izzy Alexander states. "This meet was also an opportunity for our team to preview the course that will host the conference championship in November. I feel our group got a comprehensive sense of the course and we are using the performances as a good starting point for the training and the meets to come."

The women's team kicked off the meet with a solid start, moving up throughout the first mile and holding strong throughout the middle of the race. Sophomore Samantha Soto led the team from the gun, with a fast first-mile split of 6:08, closely followed by first-year Chelsea Larsen with an opening mile of 6:11. Soto continued moving up throughout the race with an impressive finishing time of 15:33, landing her in 20th place. Senior Amber Borofsky and junior Char Purcell worked together throughout the race, moving up to form a solid pack of three with Larsen, pushing each other all the way to the finish line. Borofsky (15:52), Larsen (15:53), and Purcell (15:56) crossed the line one after another, taking 26th, 27th, and 28th place, respectively. Sophomore Solana Pearl crossed the finish line with a time of 16:50 to take 40th place, followed by first-year Mirabel Adams, who ran 16:55 to finish 42nd. Senior Ella Wozek crossed the line in 17:12 for 47th. The next pack of three to finish consisted of senior Serafina Yan with a time of 18:34 in 53rd. First-year June Essinger and classmate Sofia Picucci followed directly behind Yan, landing them in 54th and 55th place with times of 18:37 and 18:45. Senior Celia Vaughn finished her first-ever 4k and college cross country race with a time of 20:22, in 57th place.

The Oberlin men's team began their season with solid finishes and promising debuts from the first-years. Leading the men's team with a time of 20:00, senior Liam Newman opened his final season of cross country with a top-ten finish. Nipping at his heels was fellow senior Charles Endres, who finished in 10th place with a 20:06. Just behind the two seniors, junior Will Gordon crossed the line in 20:17 for 13th. Following Gordon through the chute, first-year Ryan Faris took 14th in a time of 20:20. First-year Cooper Tanski debuted with a time of 20:38 in 21st place, rounding out Oberlin's scoring five. After racing in tandem for most of the competition, sophomores Grant Hirsch and Toby Wells-Spackman finished 34th and 35th with times of 21:26 and 21:30, respectively. Finishing closely behind the two sophomores, first-year Casey Smothers debuted with a 21:47 and placed 38th. Classmate Simon Swai placed 50th with a time of 22:39 for his debut, and Tully Valentine-Maher started his college career with a placement of 57th and a time of 24:18.

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