La Roche College was one of seven colleges to participate in the Allegheny Classic held on the campus of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA Saturday September 22, 2007. This represented one of the toughest cross country courses the Redhawks runners face all season, marked by long sloping uphills winding through and beyond the Allegheny College athletics ballfields. The men ran 8,000 meters (5 miles); the women's course was 6,000 (3.7 miles). The La Roche College men's cross country team, consisting of Josh Rulnick (jr.), Amir Richardson (jr.), Dylan Grazier (so.), Andy Tressler (so.) and Michael Williams (so.), finished with a full squad (five men) for the first time in the 2007 cross country season. As a team, the Redhawks, an all-novice team (all 5 men are first-time runners) finished seventh with 210 points [in cross country the team with the fewest points wins], in back of sixth place Thiel College with 150 points and fifth-place Geneva college with 121 points. Host Allegheny College, a nationally ranked cross country powerhouse, won the meet with 31 points, with Penn State-Behrend in second place with 53 points. The La Roche men were paced by Rulnick in 53rd position with a time of 33.10, a personal best for him at five miles and a 20-second improvement from his previous performance (last week at Penn State-Behrend)) despite the difficult uphills at Allegheny. Rulnick's toughness and speed were on full display as he cruised past several competitors at some of the most difficult points on the course. Grazier, in his cross country debut, showed impressive running form and tenacity with a 63rd place finish in a solid time of 35.51. Richardson, who only began training for cross country six weeks ago, maintained a steady pace throughout this difficult course and powered over the final hills to finish in 65th position with a respectable time of 39:20. Tressler and Williams both sported bulging upper bodies (from basketball conditioning) that are not typically seen on cross country courses and inspired admiring comments from the crowd; they gamely finished the 5-miler in 66th and 67th places in a virtual tie with a time of 42:17, bringing in for the La Roche men's team the crucial fourth and fifth team places. The La Roche College women's team began the race with five women -- Tara Renninger (sr.), Udochukwu Nwosu (jr.), Beatrice Hand (fr.), Hillary Sandzeimer (fr.), and Anselyn Motcho (fr.) – however, Motcho was forced to retire from the race shortly after it began with a shin splint injury, and Nwosu accompanied her off the field. This left Renninger, Hand and Sandzeimer to represent the college over the hilly and demanding 3.7 mile course. Renninger's parents -- and their tiny pooch, dressed in a La Roche mascot -- helpfully cheered along the course, bolstering the spirits of Tara and of her two teammates. Renninger, with her powerful quads generating an impressive pace up the hills, led the Lady Redhawks with a 55th finishing position and a solid time of 30:37. Hand, a freshman, completed the tough course in 62nd place with a time of 33:48; Sandzeimer, in her first-ever 6,000 meter run, finished in 63rd place and registered a time of 34:44. Coach Forrest said that Hand and Sandzeimer show considerable promise as cross country runners and are off to an impressive start to what he believes will be a successful season this year. Forrest praised both the men and women runners for La Roche who competed in this meet, and predicted that, over the course of the cross country season, they will all improve their finishing times. He also said that the Allegheny Classic represented a true endurance test and that it's a good feeling to see these athletes registering points for the college and showing toughness and togetherness as a team.