Former AC standouts continue success

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September 30, 2008

By Dominick DiRienzo The Meadville Tribune Tue Sep 30, 2008, 11:31 PM EDT

Several former Allegheny College runners are still trying to outrun their past.

Their former head coach Bill Ross couldn’t be happier about it.

Two Gator graduates won Sunday’s 31st annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race 10K.

Ryan Place, a 2007 graduate, won the men’s race while Leah Shouey, a 2005 graduate, won the women’s race and a team made up of Allegheny alumni and sponsored by Achilles Running Shop in Vernon Township won the team title. Place finished the race in 30:45, while Shouey clocked in with a 35:32. The Achilles team was 3:18 faster than the second-place squad.

Place, who set a Gator record by placing sixth in the Division III national cross country championship in 2006, led five Allegheny runners that finished in the top 11, while Leah Shouey’s sister Lindsey (7th) and Michelle Corkum (9th) were both in the top 10. The 10K race had 6,257 finishers.

“The whole idea of coaching (is) basically get the bug into athletes (so) they want to take the sport seriously,” Allegheny cross county Bill Ross said. “They caught the bug and want to hold on to their running career as long as they possibly can.”

Kevin Pool, a 2005 graduate and the cross country coach at Thiel College, helped organize the former Allegheny runners into a team. He finished fifth while Marco Dozzi, a 2007 graduate, finished sixth and Ben Mourer, a 2008 graduate, was 11th.

“It’s really cool for Place and me to take No. 1,” Shouey said. “The Allegheny runners have a good little community, and it’s good to see we are still keeping it going.”

Ross said the achievements of the graduates is an anomaly. He said you sometimes can see an athlete’s achievements decline when students become seniors and then drift away from sports after graduation.

“In the senior year, you might see an athlete take a step back performance-wise,” the 12th-year Allegheny coach said. “They might be worrying about what they are going to do ... their career, graduate school.”

But several of Ross’ students have continued to excel even after graduation.

“I think this is a situation that is unique to Allegheny College,” Pool said. “You are not going to find a lot of small colleges that have that many people continuing to train and compete at a high level.

“Bill Ross kind of makes you a lifelong runner. It becomes part of your lifestyle and you keep after it.”

Note: Not to be outdone by students at his school former Allegheny College teacher James Lombardi, 65, won the 60-65 men’s division. The former physics and astronomy professor finished the course in 40:48.

Dominick DiRienzo can be reached at 724-6370, ext. 274 or by e-mail at ddirienzo@meadvilletribune.com.

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