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Printer-Friendly ModeXC teams finish strong at NU
September 12, 2005 —
The SVSU cross country teams had strong showings Friday at the Northwood Invitational.
The course at Northwood University is primarily under trees, so on hot days it is an advantage to runners, according to head coach Jim Nesbitt. With this advantage sophomore Becca Rudey was able to improve on her time from last season and win the women's 5K race.
"Becca is running really well," Nesbitt said. "18:33 is over half a minute faster on the same course as last year."
Rudey was followed by freshman Nicole Schmidt, a distant second at 19:28. Sophomore Jenny Phelan finished third for the second straight meet at 19:51, while freshman Ashley Gardynik came in at fourth in 20:06 and junior Jenny Bellsky was fifth at 20:11 for the Cardinals.
The men's 8K race ended with dramatic flair, as senior Adam Roach held off Northwood's Jon Hodge to finish first with a time of 25:43. Hodge led the race all the way up until the final three miles, when Roach took the lead and finally secured a comfortable enough led with around a mile to go.
Hodge came in about six seconds after Roach and was followed by SVSU sophomore Steve Czymbor, who came in less than a second behind Hodge. His time of 25:50 was good enough for a third place finish.
"I'm very pleased," Nesbitt said. "Our men's spread for the first five kids was 30 seconds, which is really good over five miles. One through seven, we are pretty solid. We have seven kids who are very competitive on the men's side."
As Nesbitt said, the rest of the Cardinals faired well too, taking spots fourth through sixth. Seniors Paul Jozwiak crossed at 25:53, Brandon Johnson at 26:12 and Jerome Recker at 26:13.
"It's a good tune up, not a lot of competition, although Northwood is trying to get their program going a little better, Nesbitt said. "It's good for our kids, a good low-key meet before we get to Michigan State this Friday."
SVSU will try to be as dominant as they have been the previous two meets, as they travel to East Lansing for the Michigan State Invite, being held this Friday. The women's meet begins at 2:00, followed by the men, who begin at 2:45 pm.
Nesbitt expects around 25 schools to compete at the Invite. The schools competing at years past have included MSU, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University.
Nesbitt is very pleased and excited by what his team has accomplished so far, and is optimistic as a result.
"Becca (Rudley) is one of the premier runners in the league, as is Adam (Roach) and Steve (Czymbor)," he said. "We got some kids that are going to be in that top 10 all year, I would hope. But again, sickness and injury can take you out."