KETTERING, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2009 season with solid performances at the University of Dayton Meijer Flyer Invitational, the women finishing second of five teams and the men fourth of five, competing in the intercollegiate division against Northern Kentucky, Findlay, Wayne State and Urbana.

The women took home their best finish since placing second of 24 at the Wilmington Invitational on Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. Paced by a 19:06 finish from sophomore Darcy Dubuc (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven), who finished second in the intercollegiate division and 17th overall against runners from Dayton, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, IUPUI, Wright State and Morehead State, the Tigers also captured the 8th intercollegiate finish and 35th overall with a solid run by sophomore Anna Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston). Sophomore Mary Pfeifer (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), freshman Biz Goodbarn (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highland Ranch) and freshman Amy Stamon (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) rounded out the Tigers' top 20 intercollegiate division finishers with 12th, 16th and 20th places respectively.

The men turned in a strong performance, led by junior Kevin Frick (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview), who finished eighth in the intercollegiate division with a 16:20, good for 39th overall. Freshman Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and sophomore Jarrett Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) finished out the men's top 20 performances in the intercollegiate division, coming in at 18th and 19th respectively.

The teams next run at their own invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12, to be held at John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio.