Andrea Maas Wins Second Individual Title of the Year
 
Men place first at the Ohio Invitational while women place third
 
 
 

 
Andrea Maas wins her second title of the year with a time of 18:22.
 
 

Sept. 24, 2005

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ATHENS, Ohio - Two was the magical number of the day at the Ohio Invitational in Athens as Andrea Maas (Cincinnati) captured her second individual title of the season with a time of 18:22 to bring the women to a third-place finish. The men followed her dominating performance by capturing their second title in consecutive weeks by squeaking past Alderson Broaddus 42-44.

In the 2004 season, Maas' best time was 19:02 (Mel Brodt Invitational), and she finished third at the Ohio Invitational with a time of 19:10.5. This year has been a different story though as she opened the season with a victory at the Xavier Invitational. After resting last weekend, she came out on Saturday stronger than ever in front of many screaming Bobcat fans, speeding past her closest competitor by 40 seconds to capture her second career Ohio Invitational individual title.

"To lead the whole race and to virtually have no one to run with and end up winning with a great time that she did, that was fantastic," said Head Coach Clay Calkins. "I think she has a lot left in her, and she's just going to be great for us."

Other Bobcats also improved their times on the women's side, making the team stronger in preparation for the MAC Championships in October. Sophomore Kendra Churchill (Dublin) turned in a time of 19:37 to finish sixth, her best time ever. Freshmen Jennifer Stanley (North Bend) and Jennifer Shaw (Lima) both finished with times under 20 minutes, while Jaime Schlemmer (Centerville), Kelly Friedmann (Cincinnati), Megan Murphy (Sunbury), Jessica Merrill (Fremont), and Danielle Benson (Mentor) all had top-30 finishes. Still, West Virginia Wesleyan was too strong, placing five runners in the top-11 to capture the women's title with 31 points.
 

 

On the men's side, the Bobcats were looking to win their third straight Ohio Invitational after winning the 80th Annual Central Collegiate Invitational the previous weekend in Toledo. Senior Bob Wayner (Cincinnati) led the way with a third place finish at a time of 26:17, just one second off his career best and twelve seconds behind the winner, Mike Booth of Robert Morris. Senior Brian List (Milford) followed close behind to place seventh. Freshmen Shamus Eaton (Uniontown) and Tony Turowski (Sunbury) finished ninth and tenth respectively, but it was Chad Toussant's (Minerva) 19th place result that made the difference. His late push at the end of the race provided him a five second edge over a West Virginia Wesleyan runner to give the Bobcats 42 points, two less than Alderson Broddus to retain the men's title.

This year, the Ohio Invitational moved from West State Street Park to the Ohio University Golf and Tennis Facility, which is located on the Hocking River. The change in location added a different feel to this year's event.

"I think the buzz about being back on the golf course, the excitement surrounding it, just made the meet great," said Calkins. "We didn't know how spectator friendly it would be until we got the first race off, but all the fans loved it. We had a larger fan base than any of the meets we've hosted here since I've been coach. I think it's only going to get bigger each year."

Next on the slate for Ohio is a trip to South Bend, Indiana, where the men's and women's teams will compete in the Adidas Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 30.