Ferris Teams To Compete In GLIAC Events

Ferris Teams To Compete In GLIAC Events

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's cross country teams along with the Bulldog women's tennis squad will compete in their respective Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) postseason events this weekend at seperate locations.

The Bulldog women's tennis team, which is guided by third-year head coach Alex Palladino, will be the sixth seed for Saturday's (Oct. 24) opening round of the GLIAC Tournament and face third-seeded Michigan Tech in a 10 a.m. (ET) match held at the Michigan Athletic Club in East Lansing, Mich.  The two-day conference women's tennis tournament runs Saturday and Sunday with matches taking place at both the Michigan Athletic Club and the Michigan State Tennis Facility. 

The second round of the GLIAC Tournament will be held on Saturday afternoon with final-round play set to start on Sunday (Oct. 25) morning at 10 a.m. (ET).  FSU placed sixth at last year's GLIAC Tournament held at the Midland (Mich.) Community Tennis Center and suffered a narrow 5-4 home loss to Michigan Tech earlier this fall (Sept. 26) at the FSU Racquet and Fitness Center in Big Rapids.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the 2009 GLIAC Championships on Saturday at the Maple Leaf Golf Course in Linwood, Mich.  The annual conference championships will be hosted by Saginaw Valley State University and held 19 miles north of the SVSU campus.

The women's 6K championship race will begin at 11 a.m. (ET) with the men's 8K event to follow at approximately 11:45 a.m. (ET).

The Ferris women's cross country team is ranked third in the latest United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Midwest Regional Rankings with the men's team listed eighth. FSU's women are ranked 18th nationally this week under second-year head coach Steve Picucci.

Last season, the Bulldog women placed third and the men were 10th at the league championships (10/25) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.  The Bulldog women's squad went on to advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships (11/22) and placed 17th in Slippery Rock, Pa.

FSU junior Tina Muir (St. Albans, U.K.) figures to be one of the top individual contenders in the women's field after becoming the All-American in women's cross country history a year ago and the program's top finisher ever at the national meet with a 12th-place performance.  She has claimed the individual title in all three of her races to date this fall.

For more information on both GLIAC events, please visit the official conference website at this link:
http://www.gliac.org