Ohio Wesleyan University | Battling Bishop Athletics

2009 Season Preview

Head coach Kris Boey and associate head coach Matt Wackerly will look to 4 previous all-conference selections and 9 returning letterwinners to help the Bishops take the next step in 2009.

"We were conference runner-up last year, and our goal every year is to improve," Boey said. "The conference will be tough. There's not much disparity between the top four teams."

Junior Kat Zimmerly (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) was a first-team all-conference honoree in 2008, finishing seventh in the NCAC championship meet.

Senior Sarah Shinn (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane), who missed the 2008 cross country season, is a 2-time honorable mention All-NCAC choice, with a 15th-place finish in 2006 and a 19th-place effort in 2007; senior Claire Everhart (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) was a second-team all-conference selection in 2007, placing 12th in the championship meet; and junior Jesi Dackin (Reynoldsburg) also was an honorable mention All-NCAC choice in 2007, finishing 21st.

[ Sarah Shinn ] Seniors Kara Reiter (Chardon) and Amber Alegria (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic) and junior Rachael Newman (Strongsville) are returning letterwinners who will look to build on their successes on the track. Reiter and Newman have won all-conference citations in the 800-meter run and as members of the 1600-meter relay team, while Alegria has placed in the 400-meter dash.

Seniors Sarah Marous (Bexley) and Emily Washek (Erie, Pa./McDowell) also return, while senior Hannah Winant (Gaithersburg, Md.) is a newcomer to the Bishop cross country team.

"Even though there is quite a bit of experience on the team, we will be somewhat of a young team," Boey said. "We will have to count on some freshmen and sophomores."

"I feel like we're ahead of where we were last year at this time," said Wackerly.

Sophomore Emma Lisull (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills) led the Bishops at the 2008 Great Lakes Colleges Association championship race and was an All-NCAC pick in the steeplechase last spring. Sophomore Maggie O'Connell (Hingham, Mass.) also is a returning letterwinner.

Freshman Emily Johnson (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) helped her high school team win its regional meet and qualify for the state championship meet last year, freshman Jane Lehman (Amherst/Steele) was named Lorain County Runner of the Year in 2008, and freshman Madeleine Wright (Hermitage, Tenn./Hume Fogg Academic) finished fourth in the state as a high school junior.

The Bishops’ season opens on Sept. 1 at Kenyon. Ohio Wesleyan plays host to 3 major meets this season, including the Great Lakes Colleges Association meet on Sept. 12, the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championship on Oct. 2, and the NCAC championship meet on Oct. 31.