MASON, OHIO – After being one of the first seven athletes in their respective races at the NCAA Central Region Championships who were not a part of a national qualifying team, All-Region performers Thomas Knobbe (So., Decorah, Iowa) and Caitlin Fermoyle (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) brought their talents to the national stage on Saturday where they each competed in the NCAA Division III National Championships at Kings Island Golf Center. Knobbe finished 136th out of 280 runners in the men’s race, while Fermoyle placed 237th out of 275 runners in the women’s race in what was the final cross country meet of her career.
“This is the first time in my 15 years here that we’ve had a qualifier in both the men’s and women’s meets,” said head coach Dale Bahr. “The atmosphere was very exciting, as you could expect with it being a national championship. For both Caitlin and Thomas to make it as individual qualifiers through the very tough region we’re in is a special thing and just shows how hard they’ve worked this season. It was great to see them go out and put forth the effort that made our program proud.”
After pacing the men’s team in last weekend’s region meet with a time of 25:40.9, Knobbe set a new personal best in the biggest meet of his career by finishing the 8k course in 25:34.3, good for 136th place and an average time of 5:08 per mile.
“I went into the meet just wanting to throw down and prove myself as a runner on the national stage,” said Knobbe. “In the end I PR’d by a second, which is nice considering the muddy conditions. A lot of runners slipped out there and luckily I was able to keep my balance. All in all it was a fun experience, hopefully one on which I can build on in the coming years.”
“Thomas went out and got trapped back a ways and had to fight through a lot of traffic to move up,” said Bahr. “He really had to keep his focus to continually move up as the race went along. The course was slippery, muddy and really tough to run in with the top layer being so mushy. Overall, I’m very pleased with how he ran and am proud that he still managed to PR, especially with the conditions being the way they were.”
Meanwhile, Fermoyle was not her usual self on Saturday and finished with a time of 24:23.1 to finish in 237th place, an average time of 6:38 per mile.
“The race didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” said Fermoyle. “I went out fast early in order to not get stuck in the middle and was hurting later on. The course had a lot of turns, which made it tough to get around people. That being said, it was such a great experience and I feel very fortunate to have been able to compete at this level for my last cross country race.”
“Caitlin got off to a great start and had herself in the top third, but as the race went along, you could tell she was hurting a bit and just didn’t seem to be her normal self,” said Bahr. “In talking to her after the race, she just didn’t feel her best and was having a tough time breathing, which obviously makes the race tougher. However, I’m still very proud of her for the way she represented Gustavus on the course and am grateful for the leadership she has provided our team all season long.”
Bahr said having two individuals in this year’s national meet was special, and hopes to be back with full teams in the coming years.
“Looking forward, I’m hoping we’ll continue to be back at the national meet,” said Bahr. “It’s awesome that we had a few individuals go and hopefully this can inspire our runners back home and have our team here shortly. Today was exciting and hopefully it shows our younger kids that they can do it and can get them believing.”