September 3, 2005
Cross Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES SWEEP EVANSVILLE EARLY BIRD INVITE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Indiana State men’s and women’s cross country season got off to an impressive start on Saturday (Sept. 3), as both teams won at the Evansville Early Bird Invitational. The men’s team took first place with a team score of 23, while the women took top honors with 32 points.
   Indiana State’s men took first place in the 6k event and were followed by Southern Indiana with 36 points. Evansville earned 84 points, while Southern Illinois did not have enough runners to earn a team score.
   Southern Indiana’s Rey Alvarez took first place with a time of 18:11.3. Junior Justin Kunz was second and with a time of 18:27.90. Antonio McDaniel came across the tape third, finishing in 18:29.10. Kyle Wash (18:39.70) took fifth place, while John Nay (18:45.70) was sixth. Chris Sering ran 18:50.50 to earn seventh place while Erik Forehand was the sixth Sycamore to finish in the top ten with a time of 19:00.30. David Santelik (19:09.70) came across the tape 12th. Jeremy Kunz earned 20th place with a time of 19:33.5.
   “We accomplished everything we wanted today,” said head coach John McNichols. “It was good to win the meet and have a number of our newcomers and young runners gain race experience. I was very excited about the races Justin and Antonio had today.”
The ISU had seven runners finish in the top 15 and earned a team score of 30 points. Southern Indiana came in second with 32 points, followed by Evansville with a team score of 73. Southern Illinois did not field enough runners to earn a team score.
   “It was a good way to start the season in that we won the meet,” said head coach John Gartland. “We beat one of the top Division II teams in the country (Southern Indiana), and finished ahead of a conference rival (Evansville). We have a long way to go before the conference meet, but I liked the depth we showed today.”
   Junior Laura Engle led the way for the Sycamores, finishing the 4k course in second place with a time of 14:38.70. Junior Dani Prince took fourth place with a time of 15:11.60, while Sarah Jarvis was eighth (15:49.50). Heather Stembridge (15:54.60) and Leah Durr (15:55.20) finished ninth and tenth, respectively.
   Julia Costello, competing in her first collegiate meet, took eleventh place with a time of 15:59.60, while Karla Negron took 15th place, posting a time of 16:14.40. Ashley Taflinger ran 16:23.20 to earn 17th place, while Margaret Reyling came across the tape in 24th place (16:49.70).
   Sarah Engle posted a time of 17:32.80 and finished 32nd, while freshman Hannah Weide ran 17:47.30 to take 34th place. Stacey Dennis closed out the Sycamore lineup, with a time of 19:00.30, finishing 38th.
   The Sycamore women’s team returns to action on September 16, when they travel to Bloomington to participate in the Indiana Intercollegiates Meet. ISU’s men’s team will compete on September 10, as the Sycamores host the ISU Invitational.