Ferris Cross Country Teams Run At Penn State

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's cross country teams stepped up a level in competition and performed well at the Penn State National meet on Friday (Oct. 14) in State College, Pa.

The Bulldog women took eighth place in a largely Division I field with 308 points while the men's team came in 12th with 317 points at the PSU Golf Course under a driving rain and muddy conditions.

The Ferris State women, who are ranked third in the NCAA Division II National Rankings, ran without their top runner in senior Tina Muir, who sat out the meet to rest up for next week's (Oct. 22) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships.

The women's competition was won by West Virginia with 45 points while Connecticut took second (70), Penn State was third (77), Duke came in fourth (91) while Grand Valley State placed fifth (171).  FSU and GVSU were among only a handful of non-Division I teams in the 29-team women's field.

Sophomore Samantha Johnson took ninth place for FSU on the 6K course in a time of 21:40 while junior Anna Rudd came in 37th (22:35) and junior Alyssa Osika placed 54th (22:57).

Freshman Kristie LeSage was 110th (23:45), junior Felicia Slate finished 140th (24:06), junior Jordan McGuire came in 155th (24:20) and sophomore Brittany Anderson wound up 162nd (24:25) in the women's field, which featured a total of 268 competitors.

In the men's competition, FSU was 12th of 21 teams in the 5.2 mile race.  Penn State claimed first place (47) followed by Grand Valley State (55), Duquesne (77), Lehigh (142) and Montana State (177) in the top five.

Junior Tyler Crossman led Ferris State by placing 54th (27:46).  Sophomore David Silversmith came in 58th (27:49) followed by senior Alex Best in 66th place (27:54) and junior Ryan Chute in 84th place (28:14).

Senior Steve Neshkoff was 109th (28:45), freeshman Spencer Gerber placed 110th (28:46) and junior Michael Schulte wound up 121st (29:05) for the Bulldogs.

Ferris State will compete in the GLIAC Championships next Saturday, Oct. 22, in Ashland, Ohio.