Sept. 5, 2009
Blase, Hamilton, Pace Women to Second Place Finish at Akron
Akron, Ohio -- The Youngstown State men's and women's cross country teams kicked off their season strong with a second place finish by the women and a fifth place finish by the men at the Tommy Evans Invitational at Firestone Metro Park.
The women were edged by nationally ranked Akron, but beat the likes of Kent State and Buffalo. It was the first time in 10 years that the Penguins bettered Kent State in a cross country event on the women's side.
Leading the way for the Penguins was senior Lauren Blase, who finished the 5k course in third place with a time of 19:06. One spot behind in fourth, was freshman Samantha Hamilton, who made her collegiate debut. with a time of19:07.
Junior Kayla Witmer also cracked the top-ten with a time of 19:25 to finish eighth. Freshmen Katherine Digby and Nelly Yegon also scored for the Penguins at the event. Digby finished in 12th with a time of 19:52, while Yegon ran a time of 21:18, to finish 31st,
Also competing for the women were junior Lisa Lee and senior Dawn Goodwin. Lee had a 45th place time of 22:07, while Goodwin finished in 52nd with a time of 23:05.
In his first cross-country event, freshman Kiplangat Tisia led the way for the men with a fourth place, four mile time of 20:24. Junior Jim Ramson was the second Penguin to finish. as he completed the event in 21:32 to finish in 19th.
Juniors Jake Dialesandro, Jake Lape and Joe Copploe rounded out the scoring for the men's team. Dialesandro ran a time of 21:38 to finish 24th, Lape ran a 30th place time of 21:52 and Copploe took 40th with a time of 22:37.
Freshman Lance Rongi and juniors Scott Denham and Rick Lape also ran for the Penguins. Rongi finished in 52nd (23:08), Denham took 57th (23:49) and Lape took 58th (23:58).
Both squads are back in action in less than a week, as they travel to University Park, Pa. to take part in the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Friday.