Sept. 22, 2007

Young Men's Team Places 10th at Iona Meet of Champions

    Riverdale, N.Y. -- Freshman Jake Lape finished 76th and the Youngstown State men's cross country team tied its best-ever finish at the Iona Meet of Champions on Saturday morning.
    Lape, a Boardman High graduate, was one of three freshmen among YSU's five scoring runners. He covered the hilly 8K course at Van Cortlandt Park in 27:09.9 to lead the Penguins to a 10th-place finish.
    Lauren Blase led the women's team to a 16th-place finish with her 137th-place time of 25:59.4.
    Sophomore Justin Dickman finished one spot behind Lape with a time of 27:11.1, and freshman Jim Ramson was 82nd with a time of 27;19.8. Dan Nemergut placed 93rd in 27:34.9, and freshman Joe Copploe was 124th with a time of 28:16.8.
    Lape was 14th among freshman runners, and Ramson was 16th.
    "The future of our distance squad is extremely bright with this group," head coach Brian Gorby said. "This local group of guys has a toughness about it that you can't measure."
    For the women's squad, Dawn Goodwin was 143rd (26:13.1), Lisa Lee was 154th (26.33.6), Madelyn McGhee finished 156th (26:38.3) and Kelcie Witmer placed 157th (26:40.3).