Sept. 25, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
ATHENS, Ohio - Cleveland State had three runners post sub-20 minute times and another came within four seconds as the Vikings placed second of four teams with 61 points at the Ohio Invitational on Saturday morning at the OU Golf Course.
"Today was a beautiful day to run, one of the best that we have had for a long time," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "We ran really hard once again and it showed in the results. We had the first four runners at the mile marker and they were able to keep it up the entire race and post some great times.
"Everyone on the team is excited about where we are at as a team and we look forward to continued improvement as we shoot for the league championship in the next few weeks. We had another tough week of practice last week, but the team came out and responded really well and pushed hard the entire race.
Junior Brittany Elmlinger was CSU's top finisher for the first time this season, placing 13th in 19:30, while Allison Craine was close behind, finishing 15th in 19:38.
"Britt ran hard all day and it was nice to see her post a strong finish," Jaketic said. "Allison is a little disappointed with her time, but she has been working so hard all year and I expect that she will bounce back in the next few weeks."
Junior Kari Haywood ran a 19:57, the first sub-20 minute time of her career, to place 18th.
"Kari has been a pleasant surprise all year long," Jaketic said. "She has been working very hard in practices and I have told her to just stay with the top three and you can see her getting stronger and stronger as the season goes on."
Junior Kelly Zaleski was the Vikings fourth place, finishing 21st in 20:03, while junior Andria Bazilevich finished 31st in 20:48.
Host Ohio won the event with 15 points.
CSU is back in action on Friday (Oct. 1) when the Vikings compete at the All-Ohio Invitational in Cedarville, Ohio. The race will begin at 2:45 p.m.
CSU RESULTS
13. Brittany Elmlinger, 19:30
15. Allison Craine, 19:38
18. Kari Haywood, 19:57
21. Kelly Zaleski, 20:03
31. Andria Bazilevich, 20:48.
32. Jordan Hoile, 20:55
39. Rachel Niemi, 22:01
41. Melissa Boyes, 22:53
