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Vikings Open Season at Flyer 5K Challenge

Vikings Open Season at Flyer 5K Challenge
Posted: Sep 03, 2011

Sept. 3, 2011

Contact: Greg Murphy

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KETTERING, Ohio - The Cleveland State cross country team opened the 2011 season by competing at the Flyer 5K Challenge on Saturday at Riffle Park. The Vikings scored 131 points to finish fourth among the six Division I schools that competed.

"I thought that we ran really hard today, really tough," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "The times were not where we had hoped, but a lot of that can be attributed to the heat. It was 93 degrees, but felt like 96 so it was a tough day to run, but I thought we competed well."

Dayton scored 19 points to win the Division I title, while Miami (OH) was second with 46 points. IUPUI had 79 points to finish third and was followed by CSU, Wright State (135) and Moorehead State (140).

Freshman Kendra Kezur was the Vikings top finisher, playing 21st among Division I runners and 34th overall in a time of 20:33.

She was followed closely by a trio of Vikings who finished back-to-back-to-back in 24th, 25th and 26th place in the Division I race (38, 39, 40 overall).

Senior Kelly Zaleski was CSU's second finisher in 20:44, while Katie Webb recorded a time of 20:50 and Allison Craine a time of 20:53.

"We were able to make up a lot of points with that group that finished together," Jaketic said. "We've been preaching in practice about running in packs and that's what the group did today. The stuck together and I attribute that to our upperclassmen who are leading the freshmen in practice. They are pushing them hard to stay together."

Freshman Tori Holt was the Vikings final scorer, running a 21:35 to finish 35th in the Division I race and 48th overall.

The Vikings are back in action next Saturday (Sept. 10) when CSU heads to the Detroit Titan Invitational. The race is scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m.

CSU RESULTS
21 (34). Kendra Kezur, 20:33
24 (38). Kelly Zaleski, 20:44
25 (39). Katie Webb, 20:50
26 (40). Allison Craine, 20:53
35 (48). Tori Holt, 21:35
(50). Kari Haywood, 21:59
(52). Brittany Elmlinger, 22:09
(56). Angela Kirila, 22:38
(61). Rebekah Mills, 23:05
(65). Rachel Niemi, 23:45
(66). Ashley Berlin, 26:44
(67). Missy Boyes, 27:43

First number is finish among Division I runners for scoring purposes. Number in parenthesis is overall finish among all racers.