Men's Cross Country At Ohio Northern Invitational

The Wittenberg men's and women's cross country teams are heading into the home stretch of the 2003 season, and last weekend they participated in the Ohio Northern Invitational as a final tune-up for the upcoming NCAC and NCAA Division III regional championship meets.

Senior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) led the Tigers, both men and women, with a 15th-place finish. She posted a personal-best time of 24:09 in the 6K race. In leading the Tiger women to a ninth-place team finish, Barnes was joined by sophomore Tracy Butler (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) with a 44th-place finish in a season-best time of 25:21. Other personal bests were recorded by freshman Sarah Yehle (West Lafayette, Ind./West Lafayette), junior Sarah Woodford (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and freshman Christine Maddox (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg). Season-best times were posted by sophomore Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer), senior Nikki Norcia (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), freshman Meredith Deitsch (Edgerton, Ohio/Edgerton) and senior Jenny Brill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington).

In the men's 8K, sophomore John Compton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) topped the Tigers with a 65th-place finish in a personal-best time of 28:28. Other personal-bests were posted by senior Jeff Domingus (London, Ohio/London), freshman Jansen Wehrley (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and senior Andrew Hobson (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). Sophomore Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) recorded a season-best time as he finished second among the Tiger runners.

The cross country teams will take a breather this weekend before heading to Wooster for the Nov. 1 NCAC Championship meet. The regional meet is slated for Nov. 8 at Hanover College in Indiana.