Weekend Report, Part 1

The first meet of my weekend was the NCAA Division III Championships, hosted by Wilmington College and held in West Chester OH on Saturday. If you know anything about the area, it’s an appropriate place for a competition that's by and large for children of privilege (who apparently don’t mind looking silly).
While the day was clear and sunny, the course was tremendously muddy as it had taken in five inches of rain in the previous week. Early on, Heidelberg’s Scott Lash led just like he did at the OAC meet. Then he faded, just like at the OAC meet (down to 33rd).

Pre-race favorite Macharia Yuot moved into the lead pack by 3 miles (he's obscured but right behind the leaders.
Yuot pulled away for a relatively easy win, his first national XC championship (to go with his five track titles). The next day he took sixth in the Philadelphia Marathon in 2:25:39. Heavily favored Calvin easily won the team title.

The women’s race was next. The pre-race favorites, including defending champ Hailey Harren, were in position at the mile mark. But by halfway, Sarah Zerzan of Williamette took the lead and steadily pulled away for the victory, considered a slight upset. The centers of D-III XC are the northeast and upper midwest; as a westerner her undefeated season flew under the radar a bit. The team competition was tremendously close—Middlebury 144, Amherst 145, Calvin 149. The #1-ranked team going into the meet, SUNY Geneseo, tanked all the way to 9th.

Then I drove up to the Columbus area and watched this little football game. Darn, I wish I'd played the lottery.