Oceanside resident leads Gettysburg College team

Ryan Rausch, a product of Oceanside, is a busy man these days.

In addition to working towards finishing his degree in health sciences at Gettysburg College, Rausch has added a minor in economics and hopes to start a career in hospital administration after he graduates. He is also the captain of the school’s cross country team, which opened its 2014 season with its Alumni Run last weekend.

Perhaps someday soon Rausch will compete for the other side in the Alumni Run, not that he wants to think about that just yet.

“My time here flew by,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of great experiences here, and I am definitely not looking forward to graduating, but I think I will have exhausted my college running eligibility. It has snuck up on me.”

It seems like just yesterday that Rausch was at Oceanside High School, where he was a three-time all-county selection and was picked for all-conference honors six times. He was the Sailors’ team captain.

Some things don’t change. As a junior Rausch was named captain of the Bullets, who begin the competitive portion of their schedule when they travel to the Shippensburg Invitational on Sept. 5. Rausch showed promise early on at Gettysburg. After a strong freshman season, he was Gettysburg’s No. 2 finisher in six of seven races as a sophomore. He clocked a season-best time of 28:37 at the Delaware Invitational. He was even more impressive as a junior. He was the Bullets top finisher at both the Little Three Meet and the Paul Short Run. He ran his career-best of 27:47 at the Gettysburg Invitational.

Still, he says, he hopes the best part of his collegiate career is ahead of him. The Bullets were ranked sixth in a preseason poll of Centennial Conference coaches, but Rausch thinks they can surprise people. “We’re looking to finish in the top four this year. It’s going to take a little bit of progression, but we have a great group of guys.”