Cross Country teams run at Ohio Northern Invitational

The Olivet College men's and women's cross country teams competed today at the Ohio Northern University Invitational on a course at the Hawthorne Hills Country Club in Lima, Ohio.

The Fighting Comets tied Ohio Wesleyan University for ninth-place. There were 13 schools and 148 runners competing in the men's race. Sophomore Jeremy Van Loon (Ravenna/Grant High School) led the Comets as he placed 37th with a time of 27:07.69.

Following VanLoon were sophomore Jeremy Shephard (Kalamazoo/Mattawan High School) in 27:09.32 (39th), junior Chad Kaiser (Lachine/Alpena High School) in 27:43.22 (56th), sophomore Dan Kimball (National City/Oscoda High School) in 27:51.43 (59th) and junior Robert Dodson (Elsie/Ovid-Elsie High School) in 28:09.28 (70th).

Olivet also had four runners finish the race, but their placements did not factor in the team score. Junior Kevin Kreh (Kinde/Huron High School) finished in 28:56.39, senior Dave Bishop (Algonac High School) in 29:16.69, sophomore Mauricio Palli (Bloomington, Ill./Glenbard-Twp. High School) in 30:03.33 and sophomore Jason Brandt (Sterling Heights/Henry Ford High School) in 32:24.78.

The Lady Comets had four runners compete; therefore, they did not qualify for a team score. Freshman Jessica Pletz (Lake Farwell High School) was the top women's finisher with a time of 27:28.03. She was followed by sophomore Rachel Strelecki (Sterling/Standish-Sterling High School) in 27:49.24, freshman Mehgan Sanson (Brown City High School) in 29:37.44 and senior Larissa Kequom (Charlotte High School) in 30:55.63.

Olivet is idle until Saturday, Nov. 1, when it competes at the 2003 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships. Albion College is the host.