TicketsOct. 10, 2008
DELAWARE, Ohio - The University of Cincinnati's men's and women's cross country teams finished strong in a large field of teams at the All-Ohio Invitational Friday afternoon. Both the men's and the women's teams finished in second place, but sophomore Lilian Jelimo stole the show with her fourth straight victory.
For the men's team, junior Tommy Morgan led the team with a 10th-place time of 25:54.8. Senior Rick King, junior Solomon Kessio, and senior Bill Keckeis were the next three Bearcats to cross the line with times of 25:57.4, 26:02.8, and 26:08.2, respectively. Senior Kyle Dragan rounded out the scoring finishing in 27th with a time of 26:30.6.
The team finished with 84 points, 16 points behind Malone College for the overall title. Despite not winning the overall title, the Bearcats finished in first place among all Division I teams, besting Ohio State, Kent State, Dayton, Ohio, Akron, Toledo, Youngstown, Wright State, and Bowling Green.
The women's team was led by Jelimo, who recorded her fourth consecutive victory. Jelimo finished with a time of 17:45.7, besting Ohio's Kari summers by more than 15 seconds. Jelimo became the second Cincinnati runner to win the race in the history of the event, joining Ruth Limo, who won the event in 2004. Sophomore Jill Glassmeyer was the next Bearcat to finish as she crossed the line in 15th place with a time of 18:42.1. Junior Tamara Masters, senior Megan Knapp, and freshman Alison Leckrone finished out the scoring with 21st-, 25th-, and 34th-place finishes, respectively.
The women's squad finished with 96 points, 22 points behind Cedarville for the overall title. However, the Bearcats finished first out of 10 Division I teams.
Both the men's and women's teams next compete at the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Oct. 18.