The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
All-Ohio Championships
Zips Set to Compete at All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships
October 01 | Cross Country
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ALL-OHIO CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSTREAM (WEATHER PERMITTING)
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron cross country team returns to action this Friday, Oct. 2, as the Zips travel to Cedarville, Ohio, to compete at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships.
A year ago, Akron repeated as All-Ohio Champion for the first time in school history, winning the men's event by 31 points with a total of 53 points. All five scoring runners finished inside the top-22 runners.
On the women's side, led by seventh-place performance from Kayla Whitlow, the Zips improved their team standing by two places from 2013 as Akron finished the team race seventh among the 42 competing schools.
The men's championship 8K race is scheduled for 2 p.m., while women's 6K will begin at 2:45 p.m.
Fifty-four schools from Ohio will be competing in the men's and women's fields, including; Akron, Ashland, Baldwin Wallace, Bluffton, Bowling Green, Capital, Case Western, Cedarville, Central State, Cincinnati, Cleveland State (women), Columbus State Community College, Cuyahoga Community College (women), Dayton, Defiance, Denison, Edison State Community College, Findlay, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Kent State, Kenyon, Lake Erie, Lorain County Community College, Lourdes, Malone, Marietta, Miami, Mount St. Joseph, Mount Union, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Muskingum, Notre Dame, Oberlin, Ohio Christian, Ohio Dominican, Ohio Northern, Ohio, Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Rio Grande, Shawnee State, Tiffin, Urbana, Ursuline (women), Walsh, Wilberforce, Wilmington, Wittenberg, Wooster, Wright State, Xavier, Youngstown State.
Senior Jillian Roth (North Canton, Ohio) was the Zips' top finisher for the second consecutive race placing 21st in the 6K in 22:16.49 at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational on Sept. 18.
Redshirt sophomores Alexandra Blair (Akron, Ohio) and Sarah Kupniewski (Erie, Pa.) were next across the line for Akron finishing in 23:19.55 and 23:20.35, respectively.
"I am excited to see this young team compete at the All-Ohio Championships," said Zips' head women's cross country coach David Gramlich. "This will be a great test for us as we will see how we match up against some MAC rivals. I am pleased with the direction of the team and anticipate us being well prepared for the Championship segment of our schedule."
On the men's side, the Zips have gotten strong performances over Akron's first two races this season with senior Kyle Cochrun (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) leading the team to a one-point victory over Florida State in the men's race at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational on Sept. 18, crossing the line in 24:52.58 to place third in the 8K.
A week earlier, senior Trevor Norris (Avon Lake, Ohio) led the men's efforts at the Tommy Evans Invitational on Sept. 10, placing second in the four-mile run in 20:21.00.
The Zips placed five runners in the top 13 at Virginia Tech after having their top-six runners cross the line in the top 11 at the Tommy Evans Invitational.
Sparking the squad's balance has been the efforts of Cochrun, Norris, freshman Joe Rossetti (Stow. Ohio), junior Dan Zupan (Berea, Ohio) and sophomore Garrett Crichlow (Twinsburg, Ohio), who have each finished in the top 15 in each of the Zips' first two races this season.
"I'm very excited about the All-Ohio Championships, the last two years we have won, so we are going for three in a row," Akron men's head coach Lee LaBadie commented. "Ohio State, Miami, Ohio, Cincinnati almost all the Division I schools from Ohio will be there. These teams are competitive and have some of Ohio's best runners on their squads. We are proud to be the very best cross country team in Ohio, and will continue to strive to keep that distinction. We have a great mix of runners on our team, young to old, and will run as a pack. Our goal is to not only win, but keep the spread of our top seven runners to 20 seconds or less."
Akron will have one final tune-up before hosting the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 31 as the Zips travel to Louisville, Ky., to compete at the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 17.
