Sept. 23, 2006

Contact: Josh Rattray

ATHENS, Ohio - Freshman Caitlan Ebner finished first among six Cleveland State runners and the Vikings finished fifth of six teams on Saturday (Sept. 23) morning at the Ohio University Invitational in Athens. Ebner has now led the Vikings in each of this season's four meets.

Ebner covered the muddy and wet 5K course in 21:09, good for a 15^th place finish. Fellow freshman Colleen Conway was second for the Vikings with a time of 22:42 and a 34^th place finish, marking her highest finish among CSU runners this season.

Sophomore Madeline Singer clocked in at 23:07 with senior Sherri Douglas not far behind at 23:21. Senior Shannon Graves was next for the Vikings at 24:02. Sophomore Melisa Mazanec rounded out the CSU lineup with a time of 25:51.

"Conditions were not very good today," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "A lot of runners were slipping and falling. The conditions were the same for everyone, but it was difficult to run on that course. I was proud of the way our runners competed."

Ohio University's Andrea Maas finished first overall with a time of 19:10. Baldwin-Wallace won the team standings, edging Ohio, 40-49.

The Vikings will run at the All-Ohio Championship next Saturday (Sept. 30) in Delaware, Ohio. The race is slated to begin at 2:45 p.m.