Twinsburg, OH -- The 2004 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Baldwin-Wallace this year at Wallace Lake in Berea. Wallace Lake is in the Cleveland Metro Parks. The 8K men's championship race will begin at 11 a.m., while the women's 6K race will start at noon. The course is relatively flat with footing that is dirt and grass.
The Otterbein men and Mount Union women won the 2003 OAC cross country team championships, respectively.
The Cardinals edged Mount Union by a mere four points, 38-42, to capture its eighth overall team title and its first since 1995. Four of the five runners that finished in the top-10 last year are back for the Cardinals - Junior Mike Sawicki (Ashtabula/Lakeside) was fifth, senior Mike Cauley (Mechanicsburg) was eighth, senior Nate Ritz (Millville/Talawanda) was ninth and senior Justin Milam (North Royalton) rounded out the top-10.
Mount Union junior Chris Paulett (Akron/Revere) is back to defend his individual title after taking first a year ago with a time of 25:33.72. Paulett became the first Purple Raider to win the individual title since Dave Cooper captured four straight titles from 1995-98. Eight of the men's top-10 finishers return in 2004.
The Mount Union women halted Baldwin-Wallace's four-year reign at the top to earn their third overall title. The Raiders' also won the team titles in 1990 and 1986. Three of Mount Union's four runners that finished in the top-10 a year ago are back - senior Kristen Koelling (Mentor) who was runner-up, senior Dara Ford (Canton/Perry) who finished sixth and senior Elena Hoellein (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) who was seventh. Eight of the top-10 runners are back in 2004.
John Carroll senior Shannon McConville (Westlake/Magnificat) is back to defend her individual title after becoming the first JCU runner to win the OAC individual championship a year ago. McConville and junior Ellie Fernandez (Mayfield Village/Mayfield) helped the Blue Streaks to a runner-up finish, their best since 1991.
Alma (MI) will host the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional, Saturday, Nov. 13, while the NCAA Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 20, at WI-Eau Claire.
Julie Work
Information Director
Ohio Athletic Conference
Phone: 330-963-0444
Fax: 330-963-0459
www.oac.org
275 Eastland Rd.