Oct. 8, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - Cleveland State had four of the top-10 finishers en route to winning the Shawnee State Invitational on Friday afternoon at Riverside Park.
The Vikings scored 41 points to outdistance the rest of the field and claim the first team title under head coach Joe Jaketic.
"This is such a great feeling and the team is so excited to have won the event," Jaketic said. "We came down here because it was another race to fill the schedule, but everyone ran hard and we came away with the title."
Junior Allison Craine was the Vikings top finisher, placing fifth overall in 19:41, while junior Brittany Elmlinger was seventh in 19:51 and junior Kari Haywood eighth in 19:58.
"We rarely had one runner under 20 minutes the last few years and today was the third straight week that we have had three go under 20 minutes," Jaketic said. "That's a sign that this team is working hard and the improvement is showing."
Junior Kelly Zaleski was CSU's fourth finisher, just missing a sub-20 time, placing ninth in 20:05.
"Kelly is so close to going under 20 minutes and joining the other three," Jaketic said.
The top-10 finishers all received trophies to commemorate their accomplishment, giving CSU four of the 10 harriers on the podium.
Junior Andria Bazilevich claimed 12th place in 20:15 to round out CSU's scorers.
Jordan Hoile (17th; 21:04) and Rachel Niemi (35th; 22:08) also competed for the Vikings.
"We had a really tough week of practice and with the Friday race this week, we didn't get an extra day to recover so these times are outstanding. Everyone from our first runner down ran a great race today and I couldn't be more proud."
Missy Boyes and Ashley Berlin did not get to compete due to injuries, but they also had a huge part in the team title.
"Both Missy and Ashley were disappointed that they couldn't compete today, but they were the biggest cheerleaders and kept the rest of the team running hard today. It was a total team effort."
CSU concludes the regular season next Saturday (Oct. 16) when the Vikings run at the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational beginning at 10:45 a.m.
CSU RESULTS
5. Allison Craine, 19:41
7. Brittany Elmlinger, 19:51
8. Kari Haywood, 19:58
9. Kelly Zaleski, 20:05
12. Andria Bazilevich, 20:15
17. Jordan Hoile, 21:04
35. Rachel Niemi, 22:08
