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Vikings Cross Country Teams Make Good Showing
CHICAGO, IL (September 21, 2005) - Both North Park University Vikings cross
country teams made strong showings Saturday at the Concordia University
of Wisconsin Cross Country Invitational, with the women running close on
the heels of top regional programs.
The women captured third place, trailing only the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point, who are the Division III Midwest champions, and
NAIA running powerhouse St. Sholastica College.
"The women did a tremendous job today," said Coach Tracey Murnane. "We
ran with some of the best programs in the Midwest today, and we were
able to compete with them."
Murnane added, "We gained a lot of confidence in ourselves and our
abilities and we are starting to believe in our potential."
Junior Shannon McInnis ran a personal best of 19:45 to place fifth.
Seniors Kari Thompson, Becky Gritter, and Allison Weller narrowly missed
the Top 10, placing 11th, 12th, and 13th with times of 20:19, 20:21, and
20:23. Freshman,Tiffany Schwartz placed 43rd with a time of 22:00.
Other Vikings finishers included newcomer Britta Nylen (59th, 23:44),
Senior Liz Podczaski (60th, 23:46), freshman Laura Papageorgiou (62nd,
24:09), newcomer Elise Lindell (80th, 26:09), and junior Amy Peters
(102nd, 29:11).
The men dramatically improved their individual times so that the team
took ninth (254 points) of the 18 teams competing.
Senior and team captain Luke Johnson ran 31:49, which was 56 seconds
faster over last week. Sidney Dichoso finished right behind at 31:54,
improving his time by 1:40. Marcus Simmons crossed the finish line in
32:50 (2:39 improvement), freshman Daniel Jones finished his second
career 8K in 33:20 (2:37 improvement), and sophomore Joel Ylagan rounded
out the top five by running a 35:42 (a 2:24 improvement).
Other North Park finishers included Daniel Michel - 36:55 (3:00
improvement), Anthony King - 37:42 (3:28 improvement), and Matt Cappetta
40:03 (5:18 improvement from last week's 8K race).
"This was a great day for a meet and our runners really took advantage
of this opportunity," said Coach Elliott Nott. "After our first three
weeks of practice and increasing our mileage, we took it a little easier
this fourth week. The guys have been looking really good in workouts and
I knew that they were ready for some big improvements."
The Vikings will take next weekend off from racing to be involved in a
special service day in Chicago. The teams will compete October 1 in the
Lakefront Invitational, which will be hosted by Loyola University. Women
race at 11:00 a.m. and men start at 11:30 a.m. at the Montrose Avenue
Beach on Lake Shore Drive.
In other sports news:
The women's soccer team shut out both its opponents over the weekend,
dropping Concordia (WI) 2-0, and outgunning Alverno 11-0. The victories
boosted the Vikings' record to 5-1-1.
The team has found the net repeatedly, having scored 31 goals in seven
games. During the same stretch, the team has recorded four shutouts. The
Vikings only loss came against Wheaton, who is ranked No. 1 in the country.
The men's soccer team lost 3-0 to Loras, which dropped the team's record
to 2-4-0. The team had started the season with two victories but has
stumbled against the last four opponents, who have been ranked
nationally or regionally.
The volleyball team lost last night to Elmhurst 3-0, but defeated Moody
3-0 last week.
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