Men take third, women fourth in XC GLIAC championship

October 23, 2006 —

Led by junior Becca Rudey, the women's cross country team took fourth place at the GLIAC championships in Findlay on Saturday.

Rudey took third overall in the race, finishing with a time of 21:31.5. The effort helped the Cardinals beat Ashland by two points for the fourth spot.

Her performance was vital, as the closest SVSU runner was freshman Maggie Stalker, who finished 28th with a time of 23:04.2.

The fourth-place finish came despite the Cardinals' youth on the team. Rounding out the top five was sophomore Nicole Schmidt, at 40th, and freshmen Jackie Reder and Amber Catlin, who took 42nd and 43rd, respectively.

The men's team, meanwhile, was paced by senior Paul Jozwiak, who took second with a time of 24:42.8. The finish was less than one second ahead of Northwood's Jon Hodge.

SVSU finished with 92 points, eight ahead of fourth-place Hillsdale.

Junior Nick Krus was the second Cardinals runner to finish, taking 16th with a time of 25:23.0. Seniors Brandon Johnson and Greg Schmit finished in the top 25 as well, taking 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

Grand Valley State took first in both contests, finishing five runners in at least the top 11 in both genders.

The men took first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth to finish with 24 points, 42 points ahead of second-place Wayne State. The women, meanwhile, finished first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eleventh, leaving them with 27 points. Host Findlay was 53 points behind, with 80, while Northern Michigan took third with 120.