Sept. 19, 2005

Contact: Brian Wolff

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Great Lakes Pre-Regional

Date: Friday, Sept. 23, 2005
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Site: Voice of America Park (Westchester, Ohio)

SETTING THE SCENE: The Viking cross country team takes a break from their Saturday races as they head to the Great Lakes Pre-Regional on Friday, Sept. 23 in Westchester, Ohio. The race begins at 4:30 p.m. The Vikings were orignially supposed to run in the Malone Invitational, which was cancelled. The Vikings are coming off consecutive finishes where they finished just one spot behind fellow Horizon League members, Youngstown State (4th in 2004) at Mel Brodt and UIC (6th in 2004) last weekend.

DOING IT A LITTLE DIFFERENT: Unlike the first two races that were both five kilometers in distance, the Great Lakes Pre-Regional will be six kilometers, something new for the squad.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Five Vikings finished the Central Collegiate Invite in under 25 minutes on Saturday. Team captain Sherri Douglas and freshman Julie Piotrowski led CSU for the second straight week. Douglas finished in 48th place in 20:11 and Piotrowski finished 52nd in 20:26. Running in her first race of the season, Audrey Piotrowski finished in 67th place in 21:24. Also under 25 minutes were Madeline Singer and Leslie Jones who finished in 72nd (23:15) and 74th (23:22), respectively. Shilah Pratt came in 76th place in 26:14 to round out the Viking line-up.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The Vikings have six new members on their 2005 squad, and only two of them ran competetive cross country last season. Team captain Sherri Douglas spent two years on the CSU softball team, while sophomore Madeline Singer was a member of the inaugural women's soccer team in 2004. Sophomore Lesley Jones and senior Shilah Pratt will both join their winter teams, swimming and fencing, respectively, once the season is over. Junior Amanda Whitmer played two seasons of softball at Cuyahoga Community College before transferring to CSU.

ONE-TWO PUNCH: Through the first two races Sherri Douglas and Julie Piotrowski have led the Vikings, including a finish of under 20 minutes for both of them in the season-opening race. It was the first time multiple CSU runners accomplised that feat on the Bowling Green campus since three CSU runners accomplished it in 1996. The two finished in just over 20 minutes at the Central Collegiate Invite earning them 48th and 52nd place finishes, respectively.

UP NEXT: After a week off, the Vikings move on to Ohio Wesleyan for the All-Ohio Championships on Friday, Oct. 7. The race begins at 2:00 p.m.