Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Cleveland State University

The Official Home of the Cleveland State University Vikings

Vikings Run to 11th Place Finish at Falcon Invitational

Vikings Run to 11th Place Finish at Falcon Invitational
Posted: Oct 13, 2007

Oct. 13, 2007

Contact: Greg Murphy

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Four Cleveland State runners set personal best times and the Vikings finished ahead of two Horizon League schools on Saturday afternoon at the 5,000-meter Falcon Invitational at Forrest Creason Golf Course.

"This was a very successful race for us and I am extremely proud of the team," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "To finish ahead of two conference schools heading into the league championships will give us a lot of confidence. We are going to have some tough workouts this week, but the team is ready for it."

CSU scored 358 points to finish 11th out of 18 teams. Horizon League member Wright State was one point (359) behind the Vikings and finished 12th, while Detroit tallied 415 points to place 16th.

For the seventh consecutive week, freshman Allison Craine was CSU's top finisher as she placed 39th with a time of 19:10, just eight seconds shy of her personal best. In addition, Craine was the top finisher among the Horizon League runners.

But it was CSU's second, third and fourth runners that made Jaketic extremely happy as sophomores Colleen Conway, Julie Piotrowski and Alison Ohliger finished within 23 seconds of each other.

Conway was 95th in 20:14, while Piotrowski placed 109th (20:32) and Ohliger 112th with a personal best time of 20:37.

"The group ran as a pack today and it was the closest run that we have had as a team," Jaketic said. "They really worked well together and helped each other to pass runners as a group."

Freshman Jordan Hoile was CSU's fifth and final scorer as she ran a personal-best time of 21:02 to place 128th.

CSU's five scorers averaged 20:19, a best under Jaketic, while the five scoring times were all under 21:05, another best under Jaketic.

Rounding out the Viking contingent were juniors Julie Piotrowski who placed 142nd (21:45) and Melisa Mazanec (154th; 22:09) and Amy Salzman (167th; 22:58) who both ran personal bests.

After running for seven consecutive weeks, the Vikings will take next weekend off before returning to action on Oct. 27 at the Horizon League Championships in Valparaiso, Ind.

"We want to do better at the league championships," Jaketic said. "The team really has a lot of confidence right now and we are going to continue to work hard and prepare for the next two weeks."