The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/20/07 Last Updated: 11/29/07

Whitworth sophomore Dusty Caseria and freshman Nick Gallagher ran hard and finished their cross country season strongly at the NCAA Division III national championships on Saturday, Nov. 17.

In a field made up of the top 280 runners in Division III, Caseria and Gallagher were able to finish in 216th and 219th places, respectively. Caseria finished in a time of 26:30, and Gallagher came in right behind him at 26:31.

With 280 athletes in the race, it is not uncommon that a one-second spread between two runners' times may coincide with a multiple-place spread in the final outcome, as Caseria and Gallagher's places were evidence of.

This was both runners' first time competing in national level competition and this is exactly what Head Coach Toby Schwarz was wanting for the two.

Schwarz said he was content with how they performed.

"Considering it was their first time, and nationals are extremely overwhelming, they did a great job," Schwarz said. "As freshmen and sophomores, you hope to get there for the experience."

But now that they have experienced

the national level, Schwarz says it is time to look forward to another running sport, track & field.

"The two guys have tasted it, and they know they can make it for track. This can give confidence to the rest of the team, seeing these guys get there," Schwarz said.

Schwarz also noted how just a 20 to 30 second improvement could help them to jump 50 to 100 places, leaving lots of motivation to get back to nationals next year.

Schwarz said the two will now look toward track season, which begins in January, with hopes of reaching the national level for the second time this year.

The Whitworth track & field team will look to these two to help lead the men's long distance squad in the spring.

The race was won in a time of 24:24 by Tyler Sigl of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, while New York University took home the team title.

Contact Kory Kemp at kory.kemp@whitworthian.com.

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