Bulldog Women First, Men Second At Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's cross country team captured first place while the men's team was the runner-up at the Lucian Rosa Invitational title hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday (Oct. 6) in Kenosha, Wis.

The Bulldog women tallied 60 points in winning the 5K field that included 18 teams.  Wayne State was second (90) followed by Hillsdale (109), Illinois-Chicago (126) and host Wisconsin-Parkside (144) in the top five overall.

FSU junior Samantha Johnson led the Bulldog women as she took fourth place overall in the field in a time of 18:06.5.  Behind her was Kristie LeSage in seventh place at 18:26.2.

Ferris State's Alyssa Osika took 10th plcae (18:29.1) with Jordan McGuire coming in 17th overall (18:38.6) and Breeann Ovokaitys taking 31st place (18:57.7) in leading the Bulldogs in the field of 189 runners.

On the men's side, Ferris State totaled 103 points in placing behind Cedarville (Ohio), which registered 73 points in winning the men's division.  A total of 15 men's teams were in the field with competitors from three other schools as well.

The Bulldogs were paced by Ryan Chute, who took 10th place in the 8K race in a time of 25:19.5 on the day.  The men's winner was Cedarville's Matt Brooker, who was clocked in 24:40.2.

Behind Chute for FSU was Spencer Gerber in 16th place (25:38.0).  Brandon Cushman captured 18th place (25:39.8) with Andrew Harper placing 27th (25:53.4) and Charlton Craig coming in 34th (26:05.5) on the Bulldog side among the FSU competitors in the field of 182 men's runners.

Both Ferris State teams are currently ranked among the nation's top 20 teams this season in the Division II rankings.

The Lucian Rosa Invitational was held at the Dannehl Cross Country Course.

Ferris State returns to action on Oct. 20 at the 2012 GLIAC Championships in Midland, Mich.