Thursday February 28 through March 2, the Saint Xavier track and field teams are going to be competing in the NAIA National Championships in Geneva, Ohio. The men’s and women’s track and field teams both have had some very good seasons and have quite a few competitors competing in the Championships.
A list of senior runners were all able to qualify for Nationals and what a great way to end their Saint Xavier careers at Nationals. Starting off with the women’s side of track and field, senior Rachael Dean qualified for the mile run for the Cougars. Dean has had an extremely good season with the Cougars.
The next qualifier for the Cougars is senior Ashley Shares. Shares was able to qualify for the 5,000 meter run. Senior Jackie Ott is another qualifier for Saint Xavier. Ott is going to be competing in the women’s 1,000 meter run.
Another competitor making nationals is senior Mercedes Mancha. Mancha qualified for the 3,000 meter race-walk.
Leading the way for the Saint Xavier men’s track and field team at Nationals is junior Brian Corcoran. Corcoran was not only able to qualify for one event, but he ended up qualifying for three events. Corcoran qualified for the mile run, the 800 meter run, and he also qualified to compete in the distance medley relay.
The distance medley relay team that qualified for nationals consists of freshman Eric Hancock, sophomore John Stancato, and juniors Shane Kenney and Corcoran. Kenney is another Cougar runner that qualified for more than one event. He will be joining Corcoran competing in the 800 meter run.
“Qualifying for Nationals means a lot,” said Kenney. “It’s something we’ve worked for over the course of the last three months, and for our hard work to pay off is very satisfying. Now we want to take the next step and make some noise at the national level.”
Good luck to all of the Cougars competing at Nationals! We all hope to see some winners when the Cougars arrive back in Chicago!
Will Weyant
Sports Correspondent
weyant.w01@mymail.sxu.edu