For both Sarah Spencer ’08 and Allison Louthan ’08, the Division III Cross Country Championships marked a fitting way for the two to end their careers. By finishing sixth and 32nd, respectively, Spencer and Louthan both earned the title of All-American.
Though this was their second time each running in nationals, the excitement was still eminent at the idea of being able to compete at such a high level. “I think this year we were less nervous because we’d done it before, but the excitement was still definitely there,” said Spencer.
Louthan agreed, “Regardless of it not being my first time, it’s still really exciting to go. It’s more of a meet where it’s mostly about getting to be in the race.”
In last year’s competition, the Grinnell women qualified as a team for nationals and had seven runners compete, whereas this year two individuals qualified. “We were only 30 points away from qualifying the team again this year,” said head coach Evelyn Freeman. “Many of our runners ran faster at regionals this year than they did last year but just didn’t place as high.”
This was certainly the case for Spencer. She dropped 19 seconds from her personal best, finishing the six-kilometer course in 21:28, but finished sixth compared to last year’s third place finish. However, this year’s pack was especially close, as cited by Freeman, Spencer and Louthan. “You have to understand, [Spencer] was only one second from fifth place and two seconds from fourth,” said Freeman. In a 6k run, finishing two seconds apart makes for a very close race.
Louthan’s race was close as well, as she closed in on another runner at the very end of the race. “It felt really good to finish, especially because I passed a girl in the last 10 meters or so,” said Louthan.
Physical conditions changed considerably from both last year’s regionals and nationals. While last year’s regional was run with considerable amounts of snow, and nationals with epic amounts of mud, this year was fairly mild, to the disappointment of coach and runners alike. “We were hoping for terrible conditions because we thrive in adverse conditions,” said Freeman. “But there was no snow or mud to be had.”
Spencer agreed, “The field [of competitors] has changed a lot, but maybe the mud worked to our advantage.”
Even though the competition gets better and better every year and the fact that Grinnell graduates 12 seniors, including both Spencer and Louthan, Freeman looks forward to future success as a result of the team’s depth. “If we’re healthy, we ought to have a strong team,” said Freeman. “We have a lot of good [first-years] and with a year of training and track season, next year we’ll be at an even higher level.”
Although they are graduating, both Spencer and Louthan plan to continue running. Spencer has toyed with the idea of running half-marathons or marathons, while Louthan contemplates running from lions in Nambia. “I went to a Grinnell Corps meeting and I asked if you could leave the compound where you’re living on one of the programs [in Nambia]. Doug Cutchins said with a sigh, ‘Yes Allison you will be able to go running,’” Louthan explained. “And I hate to be that predictable, but it’s an important part of my life.”
