Men’s Cross Country Finishes Third at Championship, Women in Fourth – OAKLAND OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
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Men’s Cross Country Finishes Third at Championship, Women in Fourth

Zack Jones finished fifth overall and makes All-Summit League first team

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Senior Zack Jones placed fifth overall in the 8K event with a time of 25:33.70 and senior Sara Lieblein placed ninth with a time of 22:57.90 in the 6K event to lead the Oakland University men’s and women’s cross country teams at The Summit League Championship Saturday morning at Cedar Ridge Golf Course. With their performances, Jones received All-Summit League first team honors and Lieblein was named to the all-league second team.

“We did have some good individual performances and a handful of all-league individuals, but we didn’t quite achieve the team results we were looking for,” said head coach Paul Rice. “We were ready to race well, but it just wasn’t meant to be for us today.”

The men finished in third place with 72 points behind South Dakota State who won the meet with 59 points and host Southern Utah with 64 points. The Golden Grizzlies’ other all-league performances came from sophomore Pat Cassady who placed eighth (25:51.30) and freshman Philip Palomino in 14th (26:11.40). Both earned second team honors.

The women finished in fourth place with 121 points behind winner Southern Utah with 32 points and North Dakota State with 96 points. Behind Lieblein, OU received top-30 performances from sophomore Lia Jones with a 22nd place finish (22:57.90) and junior Kelsey Carmean with a 27th place finish (24:13.80).

The Golden Grizzlies’ men’s team finished inside the top three for the fifth consecutive year, while the women’s team achieved their best team finish in three seasons.

“It’s time to refocus and really get ready for the regional meet in two weeks,” said Rice.

Next for the Golden Grizzlies is the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship on Saturday Nov. 14 in Bloomington, Ind. The meet is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start.

Top Men Team Finishers

1. South Dakota State – 59 points

2. Southern Utah – 64 points

3. Oakland – 72 points

4. IUPUI – 115 points

5. Oral Roberts – 132 points

Men’s Top Five Finishers

1. Cameron Levins, Southern Utah – 24:48.00

2. Jonah Lagat, Oral Roberts – 24:48.70

3. Cosmas Ayabei, UMKC – 25:09.50

4. Kevin Sandall, Southern Utah – 25:26.70

5. Zack Jones, Oakland – 25:33.70

Oakland Finishers

8. Pat Cassady – 25:51.30

14. Philip Palomino – 26:11.40

17. Brian Marcinkowski – 26:20.10

28. Ross Solanskey – 26:50.60

31. Michael Flemming – 26:59.00

43. Jason Bigelow – 28:07.10

44. Tony Schafer – 28:14.50

Top Women Five Finishers

1. Southern Utah – 32 points

2. North Dakota State – 96 points

3. Oral Roberts – 115 points

4. Oakland – 121 points

5. South Dakota State – 124 points

Women’s Top Five Finishers

1. Sharla Manuele, Southern Utah – 21:50.00

2. Diane Medina, Southern Utah – 22:09.50

3. Sheila Ndasym, Oral Roberts – 22:18.20

4. Ashley Storm, South Dakota State – 22:32.10

5. Madalyn Olpin, Southern Utah – 22:38.70

Oakland Finishers

9. Sara Lieblein – 22:57.90

22. Lia Jones – 23:53.60

27. Kelsey Carmean – 24:13.80

32. Kayla Doan – 24:42.30

36. Autumn Sagal Cleverley – 24:47.70

41. Erica D’Angelo – 25:13.00

45. Sarah Thompson – 25:22.90

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Oakland Track & Field, Cross Country

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Freelands boys cross country captures second-straight Division 3 regional title; Clare qualifies for state meet with third-place finish – MLive.com
Freelands boys cross country captures second-straight Division 3 regional title; Clare qualifies for state meet with third-place finish

The Saginaw News, October 31, 2009 7:09 p.m.

Ogemaw Heights girls’ cross country finishes 10th in Division 2 regional, fail to qualify for state meet – MLive.com
Ogemaw Heights girls’ cross country finishes 10th in Division 2 regional, fail to qualify for state meet

The Bay City Times, October 31, 2009 6:01 p.m.

Bay City Western’s Nicole Yates places eighth in regional cross country meet, qualifies for state tournament – MLive.com
Bay City Western’s Nicole Yates places eighth in regional cross country meet, qualifies for state tournament

The Bay City Times, October 31, 2009 5:43 p.m.

Powers Catholic sweeps boys’, girls’ regional cross country championships at Delta College – MLive.com
Powers Catholic sweeps boys’, girls’ regional cross country championships at Delta College

Bill Khan | The Flint Journal, October 31, 2009 6:05 p.m.

Oxford freshman Brooke Kovacic wins close race for regional cross country title in absence of Grand Blanc All-Stater Gabrielle Anzalone – MLive.com

Bill Khan | The Flint Journal, October 31, 2009 1:22 p.m.
Oxford’s Brooke Kovacic edges Midland Dow’s Allison White for the regional title. – (Bill Khan | The Flint Journal)
Swartz Creek’s Jeremy Dickie won the boys’ regional championship. – (Bill Khan | The Flint Journal)
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Michigan — Jeremy Dickie wanted to make sure it wouldn’t come down to a kick this time.

In a test of raw leg speed, the Swartz Creek junior knew he stood little chance against Grand Blanc’s Omar Kaddurah if a five-kilometer cross country race boiled down to a 200-meter sprint.

Dickie learned that first-hand when he was run down by Kaddurah in the Greater Flint Cross Country Championships on Oct. 1.

So, Dickie’s strategy — a risky one — was to surge in the second mile and build a lead so insurmountable in the Division 1 regional Saturday at Delta College that nobody could outkick him at the end.
Anzalone has been bothered by a foot injury in recent weeks, an injury that became aggravated in the league meet on Oct. 22. The injury kept one of the state’s premier runners from racing at regionals. She might have had a chance to come back for this Saturday’s state meet at Michigan International Speedway had her team qualified, but the Bobcats came up one point short of Midland, 116-117, for the third and final qualifying spot.

Anzalone was fourth in the state as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore.

“Just one race, one practice, one step … it’s cross country,” Grand Blanc coach Carlos Benton said. “This year we were keeping our fingers crossed that everybody didn’t come up with the flu. That was our biggest thing we were worried about all year.”

With Anzalone sidelined, there would be a new individual regional champion after she’d won the meet the last two years. Oxford freshman Brooke Kovacic

Petoskey News-Review – Area cross country teams gear up for regionals
Area cross country teams gear up for regionals

News-Review staff · Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009, 11:05 am

BENZONIA – The goal is the same for the Petoskey High School cross country teams: A berth in the Division II state finals.

First-year coach Keith Henning knows that goal will be difficult to reach, and not just because of the competition.

“The ultimate goal is to get both teams in (the finals),” Henning said. “That much is no different this year than any other year, but for us now you have to look at this flu thing and the injuries we’ve had.

“We’re still trying to determine who’ll be able to run.”

No matter who will run for the Northmen Saturday, they’ll be doing it against Division II powers such as Sparta, Fremont and Gaylord at Benzie Central High School.

The Fremont boys are ranked 10th in the state coaches poll, while Gaylord, which is fresh off its first Big North Conference championship, is an honorable mention.

“The Gaylord girls are an awesome team too,” Henning said. “We’ll do the best we can do with what we’ll have and hopefully it will play out in the end on both sides.”

Herald Palladium > Sports > Bridgman ready for regionals
Bridgman ready for regionals

Area cross country teams to be at same site Saturday
By DARREN PHILLIPS – H-P Sports Writer
Published: Friday, October 30, 2009 1:09 PM EDT
The Bridgman boys cross country team is hoping to defend its Division 4 regional title on Saturday.

The Bees are also looking at bigger things beyond the regional.

“They have higher ambitions and that’s next weekend,” Bridgman coach John Wismer said of his runners. “I think they’re mentally ready although they’re a little tired right now.”

Bridgman is ranked third in the state and is looking to match or exceed that ranking at the following weekend’s state meet.

The top three teams in each regional qualify for the state meet, to be held Nov. 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

A fourth-place team can qualify if it has four runners place in the top 20.

The top 15 individuals in each regional also advance.

Area teams are competing in Division 2, 3 and 4 regionals Saturday, with all being held at the same site, Portage West Middle School in Portage.

Bridgman easily won its regional last year, and with top runners Cameron and Conner Magro and Mark Haukereid back, the Bees are favored again.

“We’ve gone against almost everybody in our regional in earlier large meets and we’ve done well against the other schools,” Wismer said. “On paper it really looks like we can repeat.”

Wismer looks at Lake Michigan Catholic, Eau Claire and Mendon as other contenders to qualify for state.

Wismer also coaches the Bridgman girls, and the test for them is more difficult.

The Niles Star » All roads lead to Portage
All roads lead to Portage
Posted 14 hours, 44 minutes ago at 9:29 am.

By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

Divisions 1-4 will descend on Portage Middle School this Saturday for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Lower Peninsula Regional Cross Country meets.

The Division 3 meet will kick things off at 10 a.m. with girls race, while the boys race will be held at 10:40.

Competing locally in Division 3 will be Dowagiac, Buchanan and Brandywine.
The Division 4 races will follow at 11:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m.

Competing in Division 4 will be Eau Claire, Decatur, Marcellus and Howardsville Christian.

Division 2 will run next at 1 p.m. and 1:40. Niles and Edwardsburg will take part in this race.

The final two races of the day at the Division 1 events, slated to start at 2:30 and 3:10 p.m. respectively.

The awards for each division will immediately follow the second race.

The Division 3 awards will be presented near the tennis courts at 11:30 a.m.

The Division 4 awards will be handed out at 1 p.m. and the Division 2 awards at 2:30.

The top three teams in each race will advance to the state finals at Michigan International Speedway on Nov. 7. Any team that finishes fourth and has four runners in the Top 20, that team will also advance to the finals.

Gaylord Herald Times – Sports » Features – Gaylord preps for cross country regional with Rotary victory
Gaylord preps for cross country regional with Rotary victory
By Jeremy Speer • Sports Editor
Friday, October 30, 2009 10:20 AM EDT

GAYLORD — The Gaylord cross country team used Tuesday’s Gaylord Rotary Invitational as a tune-up for Saturday’s regional, but the Blue Devils still got something out it.

What they got was a couple of trophies, as both the girls and boys teams ran their way to the championship.

The field was narrowed a bit because of 10 schools canceling their participation because of the flu outbreak across Northern Michigan.

Still, it was a nice performance for the Blue Devils, who appear poised for success this Saturday at the Division 2 regional at Benzie Central.

In the girls race, the Blue Devils bested Boyne Falls by 10 points. Following was Manton, Wolverine and Alpena.