Sept. 11, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Cleveland State's top five runners all ran personal-best times as the Vikings placed fourth of seven teams at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday morning at Forrest Creason G.C.
The Vikings scored 124 points, finishing behind third place Findlay which totaled 90 points.
The average time of CSU's top five finishers was 19:39, as three ran sub-20 times. The average time is the best in school history.
"To have our top five runners all post personal best times is remarkable," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "We have never ever been that fast as a team and it's a tribute to how hard they have been working during the early part of the season.
"I wanted to see them post some good times today because the course is pretty flat and I thought we were capable of doing that. "We had a hard week of practice this week and I challenged them to go out today and each one of them responded. They were able to compete out of their comfort zone and really push themselves the entire race.
"I am so pleased with how the team is progressing and everyone is happy with the way they performed today. We were tied for fourth place after the first three runners so our fourth and fifth runners helped clinch fourth place with their performances down the stretch. I'm excited to build off of this performance and watch this group continue to grow."
Junior Allison Craine was the Vikings top finisher, placing ninth overall in 18:50, marking the first time she ran a time under 19 minutes. Junior Brittany Elmlinger was 24th overall in 19:22, while junior Kelly Zaleski was 36th overall in 19:47.
Junior Kari Haywood placed 41st in 20:06, while senior Jordan Hoile rounded out CSU's contingent by finishing 45th in 20:11.
The Vikings will be back in action next Saturday (Sept. 18) when CSU competes in the Friendship Invitational beginning at 11:00 a.m. in Cedarville, Ohio.
CSU RESULTS
9. Allison Craine, 18:50
24. Brittany Elmlinger, 19:22
36. Kelly Zaleski, 19:47
41. Kari Haywood, 20:06
45. Jordan Hoile, 20:11
52. Andria Bazilevich, 20:41
72. Missy Boyes, 22:08
73. Ashley Berlin, 22:09
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75. Rachel Niemi, 22:15
