AU Men Fifth, Women Sixth at GLIAC Cross Country Meet
October 22, 2005

Negotiators often look for middle ground, that area where comprise can be reached.

That’s not what the Ashland University cross country teams had in mind on Saturday (Oct. 22) at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in Ishpeming, MI. The Eagles would have been happy to stir up the pot, upset the apple cart and cause some consternation by moving to the top of the standings.

That didn’t happen. The AU men’s team, dominated by underclassmen, came home fifth among 11 teams. The Eagle women were sixth out of 13 teams.

Grand Valley State left Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with both team championships. In the men’s standings, the Lakers had 17 points. Wayne State (44) was second, Saginaw Valley State (89) was third and Hilllsdale (108) was fourth. Ashland (159) barely held off Northwood (161) to take the fifth spot.

Grand Valley State boasted the top four finishers and placed five runners in the top seven. Wayne State runners had four of the top nine placements.

First place went to sophomore Nate Peck, who completed the 8K in 26:23. His teammate, Chris Hammer, was second in 26:44.5 and Chris Pabst was third (26:45.2). Blake Terhune, the only senior in that GVSU quartet, was fourth (26:49.8).

Freshman Jeremy Trein led the AU brigade, coming home in 21st place (27:36.5). Sophomore Bryan Ropp was next (35th, 28:07.3) and rookie Zak Wilburn (37th, 28:07.7) completed Ashland’s top three.

Freshman Ricky Feathergill 47th, 28:31.6) and junior Jason Oswalt (49th, 28:41.7) rounded out the top five for the Eagles.

As usual, the AU women got a strong performance from junior Erin Stauffer. She placed 10th over the 6,000 meters in 23:59.4. Grand Valley State’s Mandi Zemba won the race in 22:14. Jenny Irwin of Ferris State was second (22:57.6).

Ashland’s second finisher was junior Mara Lee Albright (26th, 25:05.9) and senior Jessica Fleming (37th, 25:27.6) was the third AU runner to complete the race. But the Eagles couldn’t bunch any other runners close to that trio and that resulted in a middle-of-the-pack finish in the team tally.

Grand Valley had 23 points to win the crown and host Northern Michigan (73) was the runnerup. Third place went to Ferris State (106) and Hillsdale was fourth (107). Michigan Tech (131) was fifth. Ashland’s point total was 207.

Both AU teams will compete in the Great Lakes Regional Championship Meet on Nov. 5. That event will be hosted by Ferris State.