Tiger Teams Turn In Top 10 Finishes At Wilmington Invitational

WILMINGTON, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers ran extremely well in their final tune-up for the stretch run of the 2010 season, claiming a pair of top-10 finishes at the Wilmington Invitational, which included 28 teams on the men's side and 31 on the women's.

The Tiger women claimed fourth place, finishing behind just one other NCAA Division III non-scholarship team. The Tiger men finished sixth, with just three NCAA Division III non-scholarship programs ahead of them.

Individually, the women put five runners in the top 36 - all with times under 20 minutes, out of 319 competitors in the 5K race. The leader was junior Mary Pfeifer (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who turned in a 12th-place finish in a time of 19:05. Just three runners from NCAA Division III programs finished ahead of Pfeifer, who is hoping to round into the form she showed last year when she became just the second Wittenberg women's cross country runner to reach the national championship meet.

Not far behind was freshman Shannon Kelleher (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby), who came in 20th with a time of 19:25. She was followed by freshman Maggie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) in 30th with a time of 19:38, junior Anna Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) in 33rd with a time of 19:40 and sophomore Amy Stamon (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) in 36th with a time of 19:55.

On the men's side, 329 runners filled the 8K course, but five Tigers still managed to finish in the top 50, all with times under 27 minutes. Leading the charge was senior Kevin Frick (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview), who placed 24th in a time of 26:20.

He was followed closely by sophomore Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) in 31st with a time of 26:30, junior Jarrett Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) in 39th with a time of 26:38, freshman Jacob Kuntz (Versailles, Ky./Woodford) in 46th with a time of 26:52, and sophomore Adam Markins (Chillicothe, Ohio/Union Scioto) in 48th with a time of 26:53.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, Oct. 30 at Wabash, the host of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet. That will be followed two weeks later by the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional championship meet, hosted by Hope College in Holland, Mich.

WILMINGTON, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers ran extremely well in their final tune-up for the stretch run of the 2010 season, claiming a pair of top-10 finishes at the Wilmington Invitational, which included 28 teams on the men's side and 31 on the women's.

The Tiger women claimed fourth place, finishing behind just one other NCAA Division III non-scholarship team. The Tiger men finished sixth, with just three NCAA Division III non-scholarship programs ahead of them.

Individually, the women put five runners in the top 36 - all with times under 20 minutes, out of 319 competitors in the 5K race. The leader was junior Mary Pfeifer (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who turned in a 12th-place finish in a time of 19:05. Just three runners from NCAA Division III programs finished ahead of Pfeifer, who is hoping to round into the form she showed last year when she became just the second Wittenberg women's cross country runner to reach the national championship meet.

Not far behind was freshman Shannon Kelleher (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby), who came in 20th with a time of 19:25. She was followed by freshman Maggie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) in 30th with a time of 19:38, junior Anna Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) in 33rd with a time of 19:40 and sophomore Amy Stamon (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) in 36th with a time of 19:55.

On the men's side, 329 runners filled the 8K course, but five Tigers still managed to finish in the top 50, all with times under 27 minutes. Leading the charge was senior Kevin Frick (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview), who placed 24th in a time of 26:20.

He was followed closely by sophomore Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) in 31st with a time of 26:30, junior Jarrett Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) in 39th with a time of 26:38, freshman Jacob Kuntz (Versailles, Ky./Woodford) in 46th with a time of 26:52, and sophomore Adam Markins (Chillicothe, Ohio/Union Scioto) in 48th with a time of 26:53.

The Tigers return to action Saturday, Oct. 30 at Wabash, the host of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet. That will be followed two weeks later by the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional championship meet, hosted by Hope College in Holland, Mich.