Three Bobcats Excel at Notre Dame
Sept. 30, 2005
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In the most competitive race of the year so far at the Notre Dame Invitational, Carime Reinhart (Bascom) finished fifth at 17:59, just 19 seconds off the lead, while Andrea Maas (Cincinnati) finished only 33 seconds behind, placing 11th. Facing five top-20 schools, Jason Linton (Vincent) finished 64th with a personal best run of 25:05. As a result of 99 men's and women's cross country teams participating in South Bend, Indiana, there were a total of four races under two divisions, blue and gold. Ohio continued its development on Friday against many of the top runners in the country in preparation for the Mid-American Conference Championships. In the women's gold division, the Bobcats placed seventh out of 24 teams, one point ahead of Notre Dame's B-Squad, which took first-place last year in the same division. The Bobcats had six runners in the top-100, improving upon last year's 15th-place finish at the same meet. Michigan displayed its depth, winning both women's divisions. Reinhart, the 10th fastest runner in Ohio women's cross country history, led the charge with her second consecutive race under 18 minutes at 17:59, two seconds off her personal best. Maas finished with a run of 18:13, three seconds quicker than her previous best at the 2003 Illini Invite. She was one second away from a top-10 finish. Behind Reinhart and Maas, the Bobcats were helped by freshman Julia Weisenborn (Bowling Green), who finished in the 46th spot, running a 19:02. Seniors Ali Green (Lancaster) and Lauren Birnie (Worthington) finished 72nd and 73rd respectively with a time of 19:16, both personal bests. Sophomore Kendra Churchill (Dublin) rounded out the Ohio top-100 finishers, as she captured 84th at 19:24, another personal best. Indiana State's Laura Engle won the individual title, three seconds ahead of her closest competitor.
In the men's blue division, the Bobcats placed 21st out of 25 against ten schools who had received at least one vote in the NCAA's Division-I rankings. The team scored better than Mississippi State, Kentucky, Miami (FL) and Georgia Tech. In an upset, seventh-ranked Arizona won the meet ahead of host Notre Dame and the number one ranked team in the country, Wisconsin. The Bobcats were led by senior Linton and junior Craig Leon (Van Wert). Linton finished 11th in the gold division last year with a time of 25:06 and beat that time by one second this year. Leon, coming off a ninth-place finish at Central Collegiate two weeks ago, placed 82nd with a time of 25:19, 18 seconds faster than his previous best. Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky won the individual title, racing to 23:21, nine seconds better than the second-place finisher. Next on the slate for the Bobcats is the All-Ohio Championships in Delaware, Ohio on October 7th. |
