Sept. 15, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

THE STARTING LINE: Cleveland State is in action for the fourth time in as many weeks when the Vikings head to southern Ohio to compete in the Cedarville Invitational. The race will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course.

LAST TIME OUT: Cleveland State finished 13th of 18 teams in wet and soggy conditions at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 13). Junior Colleen Conway was the Vikings top finisher, running a 20:05 to place 51st overall. Brittany Elmlinger was 86th (20:55) and Kelly Zaleski placed 95th (21:09).

THE HEAD COACH: Now in his fourth season at the helm of the cross country program, Joe Jaketic has continued to make steady progress in building the team. Last season, Jaketic guided the squad to a ninth place finish at the Horizon League Championships which came on the heels of an eighth place finish in 2006. It marked the first time since the 1996-97 MCC Championships that CSU finished ahead of a league foe in back-to-back seasons. Jaketic is in his 38th season overseeing the department's equipment operations.

SHE DOES IT HER WAY: Junior Colleen Conway has gotten off to quite a start this season, finishing as CSU's top runner in two of the three events. After placing 18th at the Tommy Evans Invitational (Sept. 6), Conway ran a team season-low 20:05 on Saturday at the Mel Brodt Invitational. It was just one second from tying her personal-best set at last season's Mel Brodt Invitational.

NICE START, FROSH: Freshman Brittany Elmlinger has made quite an impression in her first three races for the Vikings. In her first event, Elmlinger was CSU's top finisher at the Bill Sudeck Classic (Aug. 30), placing 22nd overall in 20:52. The next two weeks, she was the Vikings second finisher, finishing 24th at the Tommy Evans Invitational (Sept. 13) with a season-best time of 20:39 and 86th at the Mel Brodt Invitational in 20:55.

CRAINE OUT: Sophomore Allison Craine will most likely miss the entire 2008 season due to a stress fracture in her leg. Craine was CSU's top finisher in all eight events last season, including a 19th place finish at the Horizon League Championships.

MORE INJURIES: Allison Craine has not been the only CSU harrier to be out of action due to injury this season. Junior Julie Piotrowski and freshman Ciara Seitz have also missed all three races with injuries, while senior Audrey Piotrowski and sophomore Jordan Hoile missed the first two events of the season before making their debuts on Saturday at the Mel Brodt Invitational. All of the injuries forced the Vikings to run short-handed in the first two races, putting just six runners out in the first event and only five in the second race.

UP NEXT: The Vikings will return to action at the Ohio University Invitational next Saturday (Sept. 27). The race is slated to begin at 10:30 am.