AU Men’s Cross Country Wins, Women 5th at Otterbein Invite
September 24, 2005

By Paul Carmany, AU Sports Information

For the second straight week, the Ashland University men’s cross country team won a team invitational title. This time, the Eagles were victorious at Saturday’s (Sept. 24) Otterbein Invitational. Meanwhile, the AU women’s squad placed fifth in an 11-team field.

The Ashland men finished first out of nine schools, holding off the host team, 32-35, for the win. The Eagles’ victory was made possible by some excellent pack running. While Otterbein took the first two places, AU athletes took the next two and seven of the first 13 scored places. Ashland’s top seven were separated by just 46 seconds.

Bryan Ropp was AU’s top individual, placing fourth out of 117 runners in a time of 26:53.2 on the 8K course. Freshman Jeremy Trein was right behind him, finishing fifth in 26:54.1. Zak Wilburn (8th place, 27:00.5), Jason Oswalt (10th, 27:06.5) and Ryan Wilson (12th, 27:21.5) rounded out Ashland’s top five. Brandon Bauer (14th, 27:35.3) and Ricky Featheringill (15th, 27:39.5) played a very important role for AU. Both finished ahead of Otterbein’s #5 runner and thus added two points to the Cardinals’ team score.

In the women’s race, Oberlin was the team champion, scoring 58 points. Ashland finished with 105, just one point behind the host school.

Erin Stauffer keyed the AU effort, finishing third in a 112-runner field and covering the 6K course in 22:58.9. Mara Lee Albright was the next Eagle finisher, coming in 11th (23:41.6). Numbers 3-4-5 for the Eagles were Jess Fleming (13th place, 23:49.2), Miranda Forgac (42nd, 25:18.3) and Becky Yoder (45th, 25:39.1).

Both Ashland teams will have next week off before returning to action at the All-Ohio Championships in Delaware, OH on Friday, Oct. 7.