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Vikings Place Seventh at Falcon Invitational

Vikings Place Seventh at Falcon Invitational
Posted: Oct 18, 2008

Oct. 18, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Cleveland State ran to a seventh place finish out of 12 teams on Saturday morning at the Falcon Invitational. The event was a 6-K race, the first such event for CSU this season as the previous six races CSU had competed in this season were 5-kilometers.

Today's race was contested at Forrest Creason Golf Course with Bowling Green serving as the host school. It was the second time this season that the Vikings competed on the course, having run at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Sept. 13.

CSU totaled 204 points and finished just behind sixth place Detroit (168 points) and fifth place Youngstown State (156).

"We ran extremely well as a team today and I am proud of the way we competed," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "The weather was ideal, probably the best conditions we have had this season.

"This was the first time we ran a 6-K race this year and I really challenged them hard in practice this week. I wanted them to run hard for the first five kilometers and just gut out the last 1,000 yards. And everyone responded by running better 5-K times than they did on this same course a month ago.

"I really like this race going into the Horizon League Championship because it is run on a fast course and really gives us some confidence. We are going to rest up over the next few days and then prepare to improve on our standing from last season at the league championship in two weeks."

Junior Colleen Conway was CSU's top finisher for the sixth consecutive race, finishing in 23:58 and placing 34th. Her 5-K time of 19:53 was 12 seconds better than what she ran at the Mel Brodt Invitational.

Freshman Brittany Elmlinger was right behind Conway, placing 40th in 24:14, but her 5-K time of 20:18 was 43 seconds better than what she ran on the course one month ago. Freshman Andria Bazilevich claimed 60th place in 24:50, while freshman Kelly Zaleski was 66th in 25:07.

Bazilevich ran a 20:47 to the 5-K mark, 41 seconds better than her time at the Mel Brodt, while Zaleski's 5-K time of 20:53 was 16 seconds faster than what she ran a month ago.

"It is great to see everyone improving on their times in the 5-K race," Jaketic said. "We have had to fight through a lot of injuries this season and everyone, especially these freshmen, has been stepping up and turning in great performances.

The Vikings will be out of action for the next two weeks before heading to Green Bay, Wis., to compete in the 2008 Horizon League Championship.

CSU RESULTS
34. Colleen Conway, 23:58 (5-K time of 19:53)
40. Brittany Elmlinger, 24:14 (5-K time of 20:18)
60. Andria Bazilevich, 24:50 (5-K time of 20:47)
66. Kelly Zaleski, 25:07 (5-K time of 20:53)
84. Audrey Piotrowski, 26:20 (5-K time of 22:05)
87. Julie Piotrowski, 22:13 (5-K time of 26:33)
91. Jordan Hoile, 26:52 (5-K time of 22:26)
101. Melisa Mazanec, 27:51 (5-K time of 23:15)
102. Amy Salzman, 27:58 (5-K time of 23:15)