Liz Wheatley '09 Wins Wesleyan Invitational
Liz Wheatley '09 (right) came in first place at the Wesleyan Invitational last weekend, finishing the 5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 28 seconds and bringing the team to a third-place finish. She was also named the NESCAC Performer of the Week, according to the Boston Globe:
"She was a kid who came here never having run cross-country in high school," said Wesleyan coach John Crooke, explaining the uneventful first two years of Wheatley's career. "Then she had some physical ailments her junior year. But she had a breakout spring, running the 1,500 and 3,000, so I expected good things this fall."
The physical ailments: tendinitis of the knee and Lyme disease all but wiped out her cross-country season last fall.
"I ran just a few races," Wheatley said, "and my times were pretty horrible. My knee was sore and I was tired all the time and my energy was sapped. Then I got tested and the diagnosis was that I had Lyme disease. So I stopped running and rested with the expectation that I would be OK to run in the spring. Right now, I'm probably in the best shape physically I've been in a long time."
And that's just fine with Crooke, who feels, with a healthy Wheatley and junior Ravenna Neville, his cocaptains, he now has the one-two punch to lift Wesleyan into the hunt for conference and regional titles.
Congratulations Liz, and the rest of the team.
Boston Globe: Wheatley races to first in Wesleyan Invitational
