Sept. 15, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
Friendship Invitational
Date: Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Site: Cedarville, Ohio
THE STARTING LINE: Cleveland State continues its early season schedule when the Vikings travel to Cedarville, Ohio, for the Friendship Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 18. The race will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course.
THE HEAD COACH: Now in his sixth season at the helm of the cross country program, Joe Jaketic has continued to make steady progress in building the team. A 1972 graduate of Cleveland State, Jaketic guided the Vikings to a ninth place showing at the league championship in 2007 and an eighth place showing in 2006. It was the first time since the 1996-97 MCC Championships that CSU finished ahead of a league foe in back-to-back seasons. Jaketic, who was the equipment manager at CSU for 37 years before retiring in December of 2008, has consistently had his team near the top of the Horizon League in GPA and has won the Academic Progress Rate Award in each of the last three years.
LAST TIME OUT: The Vikings placed fourth of seven teams at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 11). CSU's top five runners all posted personal best times with Allison Craine leading the way with a ninth place finish in 18:50.
GOOD AVERAGE: CSU's top five runners all posted personal best times at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday with the average time being 19:39, including three runners under 19 minutes. The average time of the top five finishers was the best under head coach Joe Jaketic and one of the top in school history.
UNDER 19: Junior Allison Craine had the race of her life on Saturday (Sept. 11) at the Mel Brodt Invitational, placing ninth overall with personal-best time of 18:50. It was the first time that Craine ran a sub-19 minute time and she was the first Viking to do so since Amy Ritzman ran an 18:53 at the 1992 Mid-Continent Championship.
LONG LAYOFF LEADS TO PERSONAL BEST: When junior Kari Haywood took to the course at the Flyer 5K Invitational on Sept. 4, it marked her first competitive race since her senior year in high school in 2006. And she did not disappoint. Haywood ran a personal-best time of 20:43, the first time she ever broke the 21 minute mark. She bettered that time at the Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 11), running a 20:06.
ONE SMART TEAM: The cross country team was recognized on the 2009 NCAA Division I USTFCCA Women's Cross Country All-Academic Team. The squad carried a 3.64 grade point average, the 10th highest in Division I. In addition, the squad earned a public recognition award from the NCAA for its multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the third consecutive year. The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester or quarter by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete.
UP NEXT: The Vikings will be back in action next Saturday (Sept. 25) when CSU competes at the Ohio University Invitational. The race will begin at 11:15 a.m. at the OU Golf Course.
