TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Thirty minutes prior to race time, Chase Oates' entire race plan changed.
But, the freshman from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, took his new race plan and executed it to perfection Saturday at the NJCAA National Championships, hosted on Florida State University's cross country course at Appalachee Regional Park.
Oates finished 109th overall out of 194 finishers with his time of 29:21.2 over the 8K course in the men's Division I race.
"We had what I felt was a good race plan in place to help Chase run a new PR time. But as the temperature rose throughout the morning and seeing how the men's Division II race ran right before our race, we had to completely change what we wanted to do," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field at Southwestern. "We had to throw time completely out the window and just run for place. The last thing I wanted Chase to do at that point was follow our original race plan and become a victim of the heat."
The Division I men's race saw seven athletes DNF, as the 80-degree heat and humidity played a major factor in the race. Overall, times were slower across the board in the race from what competitors had been running throughout the season.
Oates came through the first split marker on the course (1,170 meters) in 157th place. At the next marker (2,170 meters), he sat in 158th place. From that point forward, Oates steadily moved up through the field, gaining 49 places by the finish line.
His biggest movements took place from 2,170 meters to 3,000 meters, as he moved up 11 places, and then from 5,000 meters to 6,000 meters, where he moved up 12 places. Over the final kilometer of the race, which saw the runners scale a challenging 500-meter long uphill on the crushed shell path before making a final turn into a 500-meter downhill finish, Oates gained nine more places, clocking his second-best kilometer split of the race in 3:27.9.
"Coming into the race, I had two goals for Chase - run a PR, and finish in the top half of the race. Under normal circumstances, I thought a top-half finish would accomplish his goal of running a PR," Vicker said. "Once we changed race plans, it became more a goal of staying under control early and moving up as many spots as possible throughout the race. Chase couldn't have executed that race plan any better. And, in doing so, he almost accomplished our goal of finishing in the top half. He was able to beat some Region XI runners he hadn't beaten before this season, which was great to see."
It was a great finish to the season for Oates, who had never run cross country prior to this season.
"This season should give Chase tons of confidence as we start preparing for the track season," Vicker said. "The strength he gained from running cross country this year will really help him on the track. I see Chase as someone who can make an impact for us from the 800 all the way up to the 5,000 meters. I'm looking forward to starting to work with Chase again on the track season after he takes a short break to let his body recover from cross country."
Oates ended the season ranked 13th on Southwestern's all-time performance list for cross country with his season-best time of 27:12.9.
