TOLEDO, OH - The University of Toledo women's cross country team will host the Toledo Rocket Open at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Ottawa Park Golf Course, the team's final meet before competing at the NCAA Regionals next Saturday.
Joining the Rockets at the Open will be MAC foes Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan, as well as Michigan and Michigan State of the Big Ten. Michigan is ranked No. 23 in the nation and took fourth in the Big Ten Championships, while Michigan State finished fifth in the Big Ten and is ranked No. 26 in the country. The two teams are also one-two in the Great Lakes Region.
Toledo will have 10 runners in action on Friday: freshman Danielle Borowske (Kirtland, OH), freshman Hannah Brisson (Casco, MI), junior Megan Chambers (Rocky River, OH), sophomore Liza Cholin (Oregon, OH), freshman Kacy Crook (Hilliard, OH), freshman Lauren Fausey (Minster, OH), sophomore Ali Fisher (Lebanon, OH), junior Maureen Gibbs (Ottawa Lake, MI), freshman Richelle Gray (Southgate, MI) and senior Dagna Sztykiel (Bytom, Poland).
Sztykiel took 35th at the MAC Championships, while earlier this fall Gibbs finished 33rd at the Eastern Michigan Fall Classic.
"This meet is a great opportunity for our developing runners as well as those from other schools to gain additional racing experience," said Sara Vergote, Toledo's distance coach. "It's a nice 5,000-meter course that will enable these women to end their cross country season on a high note."
The Rockets are coming off of a second-place finish at the MAC Championships last Saturday at Ohio University. Toledo tallied 63 points, 19 behind first-place Miami. It marked the third runner-up finish for the program this decade (2003, 2005) to go along with the team's back-to-back championships in 2001-02.
Sophomore Ari Fisher (Lebanon, OH) highlighted the weekend by claiming the individual title. Senior Renata Volf (Krizevcli, Croatia) took eighth and freshman Devyn Ramsay (Benzonia, MI) placed ninth to join Fisher on the All-MAC team.
Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu
