Cordes Claims All-Ohio Championship
October 11, 2002

The All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships can be considered a melting pot of running in the Buckeye State. Every school from every division makes the annual trek to Delaware, OH for the championships. Once the guns goes off, size of school doesn’t matter as much as size of heart.

The college running crowd in Ohio re-discovered what everyone on the NCAA Division II level learned long ago – it’s not easy to beat Nick Cordes. The AU senior won the race Friday (Oct. 11) in Delaware, covering the 8K course in 25:06.5. Second place went to Sergio Reyes of Cedarville (25:38.9). The next five spots went to runners from Ohio State. The Buckeyes won the team crown with 25 points. Kent State (75) was the runnerup and Cincinnati (137) came in third.

The Ashland men placed ninth with 338 points. In the NAIA/NCAA Division II field, the Eagles were second, trailing Malone. Malone was eighth in the overall standings with 285 points. A total of 39 schools ran in the men’s race.

Sophomore Nate Iler had AU’s second best clocking. He was 35th in 27:11.9. Senior Vince Swartzentruber ran 27:39.0 to finish 57th.

The AU women were paced by junior Tara Griffin. She was seventh in 18:30.9. Toledo’s Briana Shook was first (17:35.3) and her teammate, Erica Moriarty, was second (18:07.8). Toledo (46) won the team championship with Kent State placing second (76). Miami (84) was third. Ashland was 12th with 348 points. The only NCAA Division II/NAIA entrant to beat the Eagles was Cedarville (fifth, 171 points).