November 17, 2004

Women Race to 7th-place Finish, Men 17th, at Great Lakes Regional. Morgan Sulzener Qualifies for NCAA Championships.

Morgan Sulzener Interview

Morgan Sulzener placed 12th in the Great Lakes Regional Championship to help lead the Akron women to a program-best 7th-place finish. Sulzener ran 20:38 for the 6km course. She was rewarded for her effort with an invitation to compete in next Monday's NCAA Championships. The top four individuals not on a qualifying team receive bids to the national meet. Brandi Schoeppner finished 24th (21:01) and was recognized, along with Sulzener, as an All Region runner. Beata Rudzinska just missed All Region honors with her 26th-place finish (21:04). Jennie Castle (61st, 21:37) and Rachel Zubricky (86th, 22:03) also ran well for the Zips. All six teams that finished ahead of Akron will be competing in the NCAA Championships field of 31 teams.

David Howard once again led the men's team. He placed 63rd running the 10km course in 31:52. David Pykare was the Zips second finisher running 32:22 good for 85th. Scott Mate (109th, 32:57), Jeff Swartzel (111th, 33:02), and Chris Perun (116th, 33:10) rounded out the top 5.

Great Lakes Regional Championship Results

***

Michelle Rizzo (left) was an All American in the 1999 NCAA Championships and Adriana Zalucka (right) competed in the 2002 NCAA meet