The Tiger men's and women's cross country teams are off to a solid start to the 2003 season after two competitions, including the annual Wittenberg Invitational last Saturday at John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs. The season opened at the non-scored University of Dayton Invitational on Aug. 30.

Wittenberg finished second among three men's teams in its own invitational and third among four women's teams. NAIA scholarship program Cedarville won both men's and women's, while NAIA scholarship program Rio Grande had a full complement of women in the event and enough points to claim second place. Both Wittenberg teams finished ahead of Capital in the meet.

Two women and four men posted career-best times in the Wittenberg Invitational, and every runner on both teams improved their times from the season's first meet. Leading the way for the women was senior Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall), who claimed seventh place with a personal-best time for a 5-kilometer race. The rest of the scorers in the home meet were sophomore Anna Finkelstein (Whitehall, Mich./Reeths-Puffer), freshman Sarah Yehle (West Lafayette, Ind./West Lafayette), senior Nikki Norcia (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) and freshman Meredith Deitsch (Edgerton, Ohio/Edgerton), all of whom finished in the top 25.

Among the men, the leaders were sophomores Chris Petrik (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield Heights), who claimed 11th place, and John Compton (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), who was 12th. Senior Tim Damopoulos (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) finished 15th, senior Jeff Domingus (London, Ohio/London) claimed 16th and freshman Jansen Wehrley (Medina, Ohio/Medina) posted his best time as a collegian in taking 18th and rounding out the scorers for the Tigers.

At the Dayton meet, sophomore Tracy Butler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) placed 18th to lead the Tigers. Wittenberg was the only NCAA Division III squad in a field that included teams from Cincinnati, Dayton, Miami and Wright State. Butler covered the soggy 5000-meter course in 20:58.

The Tigers are back on their home course this Saturday for the Cedarville Invitational. The nationally ranked Yellow Jackets are hosting eight races during the day, starting with college division competitions at 10 a.m.