HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Chase Oates capped off his Southwestern cross country career with a strong 21st-place finish Saturday at the NJCAA Division II Cross Country Championships held in John Hunt Cross Country Park.
The sophomore from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, battled all the way to the finish line after dealing with adversity during the middle of the race. Oates finished with the second fastest 8K time of his career, crossing the finish line in 25:53.7. His best time of the year came at the Indian Hills Invitational, where he ran 25:35.6, which ranks Oates No. 2 all-time in SWCC's program history.
"Going into the race, I thought there were anywhere from 10 to 15 different guys who probably felt like they had a legitimate shot at winning the race. It was pretty wide open this year. And Chase was one of those guys," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "We put together a race plan that we felt would put Chase in a position to at least have a chance to win it at the end. From an overall race standpoint, things played out exactly how I thought they would, but unfortunately we just weren't able to get to the final 2K of the race still in the lead pack."
Oates executed his race plan perfectly through the first 2 miles of the race, running 4:58 for the first mile and coming through 2 miles in 10:00, at the back of the lead pack at both points. Oates was prepared to cover the first move of the race at 2.15 miles, but suffered a side cramp when he tried to cover the move. By the time he crossed the next timing checkpoint at 4.6 kilometers, he had fallen 23 seconds behind the lead pack.
By 5.5 kilometers, Oates had fallen as far back as 41st place. But the SWCC school record holder at 1 mile and 1,500 meters found a way to rally and charge up the leaderboard over the final 2 kilometers of the race. When he crossed the final timing checkpoint at 6.2 kilometers, Oates had moved back up into 33rd place.
From there, Oates covered the final 1,800 meters of the race in 5:22.1 (4:48 mile pace). It was the fourth-fastest final 1,800 meters of the entire race, trailing only the top three finishers in the race. Oates moved up 12 places in the final 1,800 meters to get to his final placing of 21st, which earned him NJCAA Coaches Association All-American honors.
"I can't express enough how proud I am of Chase for the way he battled late in the race," Vicker said. "For him to finish as strong as he did after dealing with that side cramp is truly incredible. And I think it shows we had the right race plan in place. If we were able to get Chase to that final 1,800 meters still in the lead pack, who knows what happens. Unfortunately, this was one of those things that you just can't prepare for. But Chase showed a lot of toughness in how he dealt with it and found a way to persevere. The way he finished that race should give him a ton of confidence as we move into track season."
Oates took 97 seconds off his 8K time from last year to this year. He placed 109th at nationals as a freshman.
"Chase has laid the blueprint for future Spartans to have success," Vicker said. "I have never seen anyone work harder for something than Chase has over the past year to get to where he is now. For someone who had never run cross country before last August, what he has been able to accomplish in a Spartan uniform has been mind-blowing."
Also competing for the Spartans on Saturday was freshman Daemon Rodriguez. Rodriguez, from Midlothian, Texas, had qualified for nationals in the first 8K race of the season at the Greeno/Dirksen Invite before suffering a hamstring injury in the team's next race at the Gans Creek Classic. He had been out of action since then while rehabbing his hamstring injury.
Rodriguez was cleared to return in time to compete at nationals, and finished 178th in 29:29.1.
"I was so happy for Daemon that he was able to compete at nationals," Vicker said. "While he wasn't able to compete at the level I know he would have liked to after coming back from the injury, just being able to be in the race was important for him. The experience he gained from being in a national championship race will go a long way for him. Now he knows what it will take to be competitive in this race next year.
"Daemon was only able to get three races under his belt this fall, but when you look at what he did, you can tell his future is bright," Vicker said. "In each of his three races, his times were within just a few seconds of what Chase ran in those races as a freshman. If he can progress at even a fraction of the rate that Chase progressed, he will have a successful career here at SWCC."
