By Molly Burnell, sports information assistant
September 1, 2005

A new season is upon the Bluffton University men's and women's cross country teams and both are ready to start the race.  "The athletes are coming into practices in great shape," said second year head coach Janey Arnold. 

In 2004 the men's team finished fourth at the Heartland Conference championships and the women raced to a fifth place finish. This year the Heartland Conference cross country championships will be held in Bluffton and the teams are excited to have the home course advantage.

"We expect both teams to finish in the top three at the HCAC meet this season.  The teams are gearing up for the HCAC meet; they are enthusiastic about hosting the event this season and showing the other conference schools what they can do," Arnold said.

The men's squad returns two seniors and all key runners from last season.  Seniors Dan Rosebrock (Napoleon/Napoleon) and Partick Cooley (Ludlow Fall/Milton Union) will help fill the leadership rolls for the men's team.  They both bring running experience and race knowledge to the squad.

Dave Espinoza (Toledo/Whitmer) and Johnny Ichrist (Toledo/Whitmer) start their third year as members of the cross country team and will be looked upon to help lead the underclassmen in 2005.

Sophomores Tyler Fairchild (Toledo/Whitmer), Peter Husted (Carrollton/Carrollton), Michael Koch (Liberty Center/Liberty Center) and Hillary Shilisio (Eldoret, Kenya) will continue to make strides and contribute to the team this season.

The women's team returns four members of last years squad and hopes to build on the success of 2004.  Jennifer Creamer (Westerville/Westerville South) Alicia Stanko (Findlay/Liberty Benton) and Stephanie Welch (Berne, Ind./South Adams) fill the role of seniors and look to guide the Beavers to a higher HCAC finish.  Junior Lauren Bailey (Powell/Upper Arlington) and Sophomores Bree Fetterman (North Royalton/Padua) and Sarah Humphrey (Upper Sandusky/Upper Sandusky) will continue to achieve great feats this season.  The team's only freshman runner, Ashley Smith (Delta/Delta), will add depth to the squad.

"We expect both teams to have a very tight group of top five runners this season," Arnold said.  Bluffton has a good group of athletes returning to this years cross country squad and will count on that for race success."  Hard work over the summer and high expectations will push the Beavers to run smart races this season and be competitive at the conference meet.

-BEAVERS-