On Oct. 19, for the first time since 2022, Oberlin hosted the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble, which brought together cross country teams from across the region to run on Oberlin’s home course. According to Oberlin cross country runners, hosting on Oberlin’s home turf made the event uniquely enjoyable and may have benefited Oberlin runners’ performances.
The Rumble consisted of two six-kilometer races: a varsity race, where the top eight runners from each team ran competitively, and an open race, where all of the runners participated alongside Oberlin alumni. Oberlin’s group of taiko drummers also performed throughout the day’s festivities.
Having a cross country meet at Oberlin may have given the runners an advantage because of the increased confidence they have on the course.
Double-degree third-year Zosia Mateja described the advantage.
“We train on [this course] all the time,” Mateja said. “We do all of our workouts on our course, so we know every turn, every bend, the surfaces — the gravel versus the mulch versus the grass — super well, which means we can tackle the course better than other teams that haven’t trained on [it].”
College first-year Mirabel Adams reported feeling additional pressure because the meet was hosted at Oberlin, noting that the Oberlin team was partially responsible for putting up and taking down the stakes and flags that make up the course.
“I felt more connected to my team, and I got to meet alumni,” Adams said. “We’ve been working really hard all season, and this was a nice conclusion to the regular season.”
Several of the runners spoke about why the Rumble was special to them personally.
This was Mateja’s first time racing with her team this season after an accident with a mountain biker sidelined her earlier this year.
“The Rumble was super special to me,” she said. “It was the first time I got to run with my team again, and it was nice because my boyfriend and my friends were watching.”
Conservatory second-year Greydan Villano got to live out a high school dream.
“It was big for me because in high school I always wanted a home cross country meet and never got to have one, so getting to have one at Oberlin is a really fun experience,” Villano said.
Adams and Greydan, as well as four other runners, made new personal best times for this race length.
“It was truly wonderful being able to host the Rumble again for the first time since 2022,” Head Cross Country Coach Izzy Alexander said in a statement to GoYeo. “A lot of people helped make it possible, too many to thank individually, but it was a lot of people doing a lot of work to make this meet a special experience for the athletes, ours and those on visiting teams.”
College second-year Grant Hirsch added that live performances were unique to the Oberlin meet.
“One huge upside to our home course comes from the taiko drummers who performed throughout the entire meet,” he said. “The energy that they brought was unmatched and is something that I truly doubt any other school does during their home meets.”
This meet concludes the regular season for the cross country team. Post-season events begin with the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Kenyon on Nov. 1, followed by with the Great Lakes Regional Championships and NCAA Championships.
