Despite two pre-meet losses to Occidental earlier this season, the Pomona-Pitzer men’s cross-country team won when it mattered most, beating Oxy for second place last Friday at the SCIAC 8,000 Meter Multi-Dual Meet in La Mirada. The second place effort almost ensures that the Hens will advance to the NCAA Division III regionals.

The results of Friday’s meet were impressive, considering P-P lost its top five members to graduation last year. The team effort was lead by underclassmen Nate DeFelice ’04 and Braden Boice ’05. "It was a great start for a team that’s lost so many of its best runners," said Coach Pat Mulcahy.

Adding to the sweetness of a second-place finish was placing above the Tigers for the first time this season. "We’ve lost to Oxy twice already this year, but beat everyone else in the pre-meets, so I was happy to see us finally get the best of them," declared Mulcahy.

DeFelice, finally healthy after a year of injury, placed first on the team and seventh overall with a time of 27:45.00. "Nate ran really well, and thankfully, because we really needed him," commented Mulcahy.

Boice, also in his first college season, finished 14th overall with a time of 28:38.40. "Both guys ran very solid races; I was pleased," Mulcahy said.

SCIAC powerhouse Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swept the top fives places to win the meet, but as Mulcahy remarked, "They always win. There’s them, and then there’s the rest of us." The Hens, despite a 48-15 loss to the Stags, soundly beat the six other participating SCIAC teams, including (in order of meet standings) Whittier, La Verne, Occidental, Caltech, Cal Lutheran and Redlands.

Out of 65 individual competitors, seven P-P runners finished in the top thirty. Jake Oken-Berg ’02 finished third on the team and 17th overall with a time of 29:09.40. Dan Shickich ’05 came in at 19th with 29:21.40. Paul Snape ’02 was 25th with 29:37.20, David Marshall ’05 earned 27th with 30:23.60, and Andy Barnette placed 30th with 30:42.30.

"The whole team ran solidly, but not great," commented Mulcahy. "We did better than in our pre-meets, but we haven’t broken through yet."

Next Saturday, the team will compete in the SCIAC League Championships at Prado Park in Chino. The combined results of last week’s Multi-Dual and the upcoming Championships determine which SCIAC teams proceed to regionals. Thanks to a second-place finish, the Hens are practically guaranteed advancement. In the meantime, Coach Mulcahy is counting on improvements. "We can definitely run faster at the championships and regionals. And give us a few years, we’ll catch up with CMS," he said.