Allegheny College Athletics

Junior Bobby Over capped the 2012 cross country season with the highest national finish ever by an Allegheny runner, and the Gators rode that scintillating performance to a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships on the Lavern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind.  A third-year standout from Wadsworth, Ohio, Over settled into second after the first half-mile of the 8,000-meter circuit and stayed in that position for the duration of the race. As eventual champion Tim Nelson of Wisconsin-Stoudt broke away at the 3k, Over was forced to finish the second-half of the race by himself as the space between the top four runners as well as the ensuing chase pack was surprisingly large. Although Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf made a push to overtake Over down the stretch, he was unable to make a pass as Over closed as the national runner-up behind the fastest time by an Allegheny harrier at the NCAA Championships.