<f men’s cross country team learned one thing last Thursday in the upper arboretum, it was that although they could beat the Carls in a race, they were no match when it came to style. The Oles defeated Carleton soundly in the Karhu Shoe Race on November 4, but the Fellahs showed much more heart. Clad in t-shirts and shorts, the Ole racers were outclassed by the costumed Carls.
The Oles revealed their lack of understanding of the course by taking a wrong turn in the last 600 meters. If the finish line had not already been visible at this point, the results of the race could have turned out much differently.
Sophomore Chas Karch led the way for Carleton in 27:50, his sparkly red pants and suspenders stunning onlookers. Dylan Cheever ’13 introduced a new hairdo to go along with his second fastest time of the season. The race of the day belonged to sophomore Brian Spisiak, who used a mix of semi-formal attire and running clothes to run 28:32, breaking his personal best by 55 seconds. Also running the fastest time of his career was freshman Matt “Fitzie” Fitzgerald, who shaved off 23 seconds to finish in 28:44.
Michael “Michael” Knudson ended his collegiate cross country career with a fireworks display. With less than 200 meters to go, Knudson trailed an Ole runner. Frantic screaming from several team members to “get that Ole” inspired Knudson, who turned on the afterburners and won a tooth and nail fight to the finish line. As an added bonus, Knudson improved his personal best by two seconds. Joe Marren and Ben Parks also ran their last 8k races, although some spectators maintain that former NBA star Patrick Ewing ran instead of Parks.
Sophomores Phil Juda and Cooper Dodds closed out their first seasons of cross country in style. Students on the Bald Spot the next morning were heard discussing Dodds’ patriotic attire. Reid McMurry ’13, Ryan Lawrence ’14, Andy Hardt ’13, and Michael Tolan ’14 all competed for the Carls, as well as Famous Johnson ’12, who ran his best time of the year dressed as a caveman.
Among some of the other strange happenings, the women’s regional team was notably absent, while the men’s team had apparently acquired a set of identical twins. Also, John Davis ’11 was sighted running the women’s race, while Haley Johnson ’13, who was expected to race, was seen cheering alongside the course. Tomorrow the Knights will conclude their season at the NCAA Central Region Meet in Waverly, Iowa.
-Colin Sinclair is a member of the men’s cross country team.