Oct. 19, 2005

SAULT STE. MARIE - The Lake Superior State men's and women's cross country teams will be traveling to Ishpeming on Saturday to compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

The meet, hosted by Northern Michigan University, will be on one of the more difficult GLIAC courses in recent years. The women are scheduled to run the Al Quall course at 11 a.m., followed by the men at 11:45 a.m. The women will be running 6 kilometers and the men 8 kilometers.

The women will be led by senior captain Brooke Brenner, who has had a phenomenal senior campaign, according to head coach Steve Eles. Sophomore Mandi DeBlock will battle with Brenner for the top position on the team. Junior Michelle Ballance and Christina Etapa, and freshmen Stephanie Riedel and Charlotte Folkersma are expected to round out the top six.

Also competing for the Lady Lakers will be junior Kate Baker, sophomore Dale Burnham and freshmen Jade Szubelak, Kathryn Harriger and Connie Beausejour.

Brenner has had several good outings this season, including a 16th-place finish at Central Michigan (fourth among Division II runners) and 52nd place in Minneapolis, Minn. - one of the largest collegiate meets in the nation. DeBlock was 28th and 62nd, respectively, in those two meets.

"They all seem to be having career years," Eles said of the Laker women. "We lost four out of seven top runners from last year. On paper prior to the season, one would have expected this team to not be as good as last year's. But this year's team is just as good, if not better."

Brenner has moved up from being LSSU's fourth or fifth runner to a "solid No. 1."

"Mandi is right with her, and those two work very well together," Eles said. "And Mandi is only a sophomore...When the girls go on a run, Brooke and Mandi will set the pace and will call for each other if one falls back. The whole team pulls each other that way."

The men's team is a very young team composed mainly of freshman and sophomores. The men are expected to be led by juniors Matt Merian and Scott Hosie, sophomores Tom Thornton, Ben Tarbutton, Chris Olds, and Emory Nelkie. Also competing for the Lakers will be senior Ross Malatinsky, sophomore Jason Ferguson, and freshmen Evan Williams, Mike Boni, Luke Allen and Brad Winkler.

"On the guys side, we know the top five, but we don't know any given order," Eles said. "But the guys have been running well."

The Lakers have been training at the Hiawatha Park in Sault, Ont., to prepare for a challenging Upper Peninsula course.

"We ran the course in September on our way back from Minnesota," Eles said. "It's definitely a northern-type course and should be to our advantage to run there. It's very hilly - a cross country ski trail. Some of our competitors are from flat areas and might not have the advantage that our (U.P.) schools have. We're accustomed to running on wood chips and hills. This course has a 600 to 800-meter climb in it. We've been preparing for that."

The Lakers will also compete Nov. 5 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Big Rapids.