BLOOMINGTON, IN - Sophomore Ari Fisher (Lebanon, OH) finished in ninth place as the University of Toledo women's cross country team took sixth out of 32 teams at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday. For her efforts, Fisher was named to the All-Region team, while the showing was the team's best since the Rockets took fourth in 2001.

The men's team matched its best-ever showing at the Regional meet, placing 18th out of 30 teams. Toledo also took 18th in 2002.

Fisher completed the course in a time of 21:11.46. Freshman Devyn Ramsay (Benzonia, MI) crossed in 21:53.44 and placed 29th overall, while senior Renata Volf (Krizevcli, Croatia) came in 34th in 22:04.11. Sophomore Lindsay Toussant (Minerva, OH) was the fourth Rocket to cross in a time of 22:08.31 and took 40th, while junior Karen Sovacool (Lakewood, OH) rounded out the Toledo scoring by finishing 61st in 22:27.94.

As a team, the Rockets finished with 169 points and also bettered MAC Champion Miami, who finished in eighth. Notre Dame claimed the team title with 94 points, while Michigan State's Emily Macleod took the individual crown in 20:42.70.

Fisher has a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships once tiebreakers have been established. Check back to www.utrockets.com Sunday evening for more details.

"I thought we ran incredibly well as a team." said head coach Kevin Hadsell. "I was particularly excited about finishing in front of Miami and ending the season as the top-ranked MAC team. It was a great race on our part, and since we only lose one girl off the roster, a year from now we could be top-20 team."

Meanwhile, the men's squad finished sixth out of the MAC teams in competition - one spot higher than their showing in the Championships - with a final tally of 461 points, eight behind Oakland.

Junior Chris Wall (Centerville, OH) paced the Rockets with a 40th-place showing in 32:14.65. Classmate Elisha Kipchumba (Nairobi, Kenya) came in 51st in 32:29.04, with sophomore Jonathan DeWitt (Akron, OH) finishing 102nd, senior Ken Sameoi (Kapsabet, Kenya) taking 116th and sophomore Barnabas Kiprotich (Eldoret, Kenya) placing 154th.

Wisconsin scored 62 points to win the team championship, and Ohio State's Jeff See won the individual title.

"I'm really excited for the guys and their performance," Hadsell said. "Like the women, they'll return all but one runner next year and they just keep getting better. This is already the best group I've ever had."

Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu