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Cross Country Returns to Action at Shawnee State Invitational

Cross Country Returns to Action at Shawnee State Invitational
Posted: Oct 04, 2010

Oct. 4, 2010

Contact: Greg Murphy

MEET #6

Shawnee State Invitational

Date: Friday, Oct. 8, 2010
Time: 4:15 p.m.
Site: West Portsmouth, Ohio

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THE STARTING LINE: The cross country team returns to action on Friday (Oct. 8) when the Vikings compete in the Shawnee State Invitational. The 5K race will begin at 4:15 p.m. at Riverside Park.

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, 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 finished 23rd of 39 teams at the 30th Annual All-Ohio Championship in Cedarville, Ohio. The 23rd place showing was the best finish in the event in program history. Allison Craine finished 75th in 19:03, while Brittany Elmlinger was 97th in 19:17.

BEST FINISH AT ALL-OHIO: The Vikings 23rd place finish at the All-Ohio Championship on Friday (Oct. 1) was CSU's best finish at the annual event in program history. The previous best finish was 29th in 2008.

THREE GO UNDER 19 (AGAIN): The Vikings had three runners record times under 20 minutes for the first time in program history at the Ohio Invitational on Sept. 25. Brittany Elmlinger was 13th in 19:30, while Allison Craine finished 15th in 19:38 and Kari Haywood 18th in 19:57. CSU just missed having a fourth sub-20 minute time as Kelly Zaleski finished in 20:03. It happened for the second straight week when Craine, Elmlinger and Haywood all ran sub-20 minute times at the All-Ohio Championship on Friday (Oct. 1).

HAYWOOD GOES EVEN LOWER: 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 then 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 and went even lower on Sept. 25 at the Ohio Invitational, posting her first sub-20 minute time (19:57). She equaled that time at the All-Ohio Championship on Friday (Oct. 1).

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 conclude the regular season when CSU competes at the Falcon Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio. The race begins at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 16).