BORO CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS FINISH IN TOP TEN AT NATIONALS

Yi Min Wu, Lisa Petsche Become Four-Time All-Americans

EDINBORO, PA – The Edinboro University men’s and women’s cross country teams brought home top ten finishes at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships on Saturday. The women’s team placed seventh, their fifth straight top ten finish, while the men’s team placed eighth, making it five straight years in the top ten and 16 of the last 18 years. This marked the 33rd straight year that head coach Doug Watts had guided the Fighting Scots to a berth in the nationals. Slippery Rock University hosted the championship.

Western State swept both the men’s and women’s titles, winning the men’s title by 36 points and narrowly capturing the women’s title by a nine point margin. The men’s team had three of the first five finishers, including national champion Michael Aish, who completed the 10K race in a time of 30:52.6. The Western State women’s team also won the individual title, as Hannah Lawrence covered the 6K course in a time of 21:24.7. The women’s team had three of the top seven finishers.

On the men’s side, Abilene Christian was second, Adams State third, Truman State fourth and Harding fifth. The women’s top five found Adams State coming in second, with Cal-Davis, North Dakota and Grand Valley State rounding out the top five.

Senior Yi Min Wu (Tian Jin, China) finished as the top finisher for both Edinboro teams, capturing fourth place with a time of 32:01.6. The 1998 national champion, Wu joins Martin Lyons as the only four-time men’s cross country All-Americans at Edinboro. He placed 13th a year ago while battling a calf injury.

Nat Wibberley (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing Area) was the next Fighting Scot to cross the finish line, placing 55th with a time of 32:44.5. Tim Cron (Sayre PA/Sayre), battling a torn calf muscle, was 60th (33:50.6), with Ryan Kelly (Vero Beach, FL/ Vero Beach) coming in 64th (33:55.7).

On the women’s side, senior Lisa Petsche (Dublin , OH/Dublin Coffman) earned her fourth All-American certificate, the first Edinboro female runner to accomplish the fete. Amy Perry had previously earned All-American honors three times. Petsche finished tenth with a time of 22:01.5.

Edinboro’s top runner most of the year, senior Kathy Breisch (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) could only manage a 47th place finish with a time of 23:01.4. Jocelyn Smith (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) came in 64th (23:28.1).

NCAA DIVISION II CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Slippery Rock, PA

TEAM SCORES

    MEN                                     WOMEN 
 1. Western State             38         1. Western State         46
 2. Abilene Christian         74         2. Adams State           55
 3. Adams State              107         3. Cal-Davis            120
 4. Truman State             167         4. North Dakota         192
 5. Harding                  202         5. Grand Valley State   229
 5. Cal-Davis                202         6. Northern Michigan    246
 7. South Dakota State       214         7. EDINBORO             275
 8. EDINBORO                 266         8. Wisconsin-Parkside   285
 9. Cal St. Chico            293         9. Sonoma State         291
10. UMass-Lowell             304        10. South Dakota         306

INDIVIDUAL SCORES

MEN
 1. Michael Aish, Western State               30:52.6
 2. Joshua Eberly, Western State              31:34.7
 3. Martin Rosendahl, Mankato State           31:56.2
 4. Yi Min Wu, Edinboro                       32:01.6
 5. Chris Siemers, Western State              32:03.0
 6. Linus Chepkwony, Harding                  32:08.8
 7. Alfred Rugema, Abilene Christian          32:14.4
 8. Jeran-Marie Ndikumana, Abilene Christian  32:15.1
 9. Enrique Guerrero, Adams State             32:16.5
10. Matthew Levassiur, Adams State            32:17.6

WOMEN
 1. Hannah Lawrence, Western State            21:24.7
 2. Marjo Venalainen, Kennesaw State          21:31.8
 3. Najeeby Quinn, Western State              21:34.5
 4. Sara Raschiatore, IUP                     21:41.9
 5. Zoila Gomez, Adams State                  21:44.3
 6. Nina Christensen, Hawaii Pacific          21:45.8
 7. Virginia Coindreau, Adams State           21:48.8
 8. Jeanette Mott, Pittsburg State            21:54.5
 9. Rebekah Mackie, Western State             22:00.6
10. Lisa Petsche, Edinboro                    22:01.5

EDINBORO INDIVIDUAL FINISHERS

     MEN                                WOMEN
  4. Yi Min Wu      32:01.6         10. Lisa Petsche      22:01.5
 55. Nat Wibberley  33:44.5         50. Kathy Beisch      23:01.4
 60. Tim Cron       33:52.1         64. Jocelyn Smith     23:28.1
 64. Ryan Kelly     33:55.7         97. Lindsey Roberts   24:04.4
113. Kimmo Lassila  35:01.4        116. Kiersten Buckley  24:27.7
122. Joe Reynolds   35:12.6        128. Lynann Lorenz     24:39.6
142. Mark Hryvniak  35:45.7        166. Lisa Gallagher    35:44.4

~ Fighting Scots ~

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Created on ... November 17, 2001