Sesemann, Hallam finish 10 seconds apart in NAIA women’s race

OC senior Erin Sesemann (No. 310, center) finished 109th overall in the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Wash.

By Murray Evans
VANCOUVER, Wash. (Nov. 19, 2011) – Oklahoma Christian senior Erin Sesemann and freshman Jacqueline Hallam both posted strong finishes in the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Sesemann, running in her last collegiate cross country race, covered the 5-kilometer course at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in 19:31 to finish 109th overall. That was an improvement of 47 seconds and 109 positions over her 218th-place finish last season.

Among Sooner Athletic Conference runners, Sesemann finished third, four spots better than in the conference meet two weeks ago.

Hallam wasn’t far behind Saturday, finishing 131st in 19:41. She and Sesemann were the only OC runners to qualify for the NAIA women’s meet.

“We figured a top-100 performance would be kind of the ultimate performance, if everything went well,” OC head coach Mark Thompson said, calling the finishes of Sesemann and Hallam “fantastic. Erin had a great race to finish on and a huge improvement from last year. And then Jacq, for her first time (at nationals), I told her to expect craziness and she ran a great race. That bodes well for her future.”

Sesemann said during the race, she began thinking about the end of her cross country career, something which motivated her to finish strong. She spent much of the last two kilometers of the race picking off opposing runners.

“It was really loud and really crazy,” Sesemann said. “Everybody was everywhere. I started running and thinking, “Oh, this is my last race. This is sad.’ Then I sped up because it was my last race. I just wanted to catch some people. It’s the best feeling when you pass somebody.”

That’s what Thompson wanted to see from his senior.

“You like to see them with that confidence at the end and putting that last ounce of energy into it,” he said.

Hallam said the NAIA meet had the largest field of any race she’d ever run in. She ran ahead of Sesemann for much of the race before her teammate passed her in the final stages.

“The hills got me,” Hallam said.

Obsie Birru of Grand View (Iowa) won the individual title with a time of 17:15. The top SAC finisher was Brenda Felipe of Rogers State, who finished 53rd in 18:55. California State-San Marcos won the team title.

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