Butler Heads To Horizon League Cross Country Championship

Oct. 31, 2002

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: The Butler men's and women's cross country teams will be "racing for the gold" when they compete at the Horizon League Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2. The league meet will be hosted by Loyola University at Montrose Beach in Chicago. The women's 5K championship race is scheduled for 11 a.m. (CDT), with the men's 8K race following at 12 p.m. Butler's men, who tied for the Horizon League championship last fall, are seeking a fifth consecutive conference crown. The Butler women finished runner-up for a second consecutive year last fall, after compiling a string of four straight championships, 1996-99.

WELL RESTED: The Bulldogs are returning to action for the first time since Oct. 19, when they competed in the NCAA Pre-National Meet hosted by Indiana State University. Butler's men placed fifth of 35 teams at the pre-nationals, while Butler's women were 30th of 37. The Butler men finished ahead of five nationally-ranked teams at the meet.

LEAGUE HONOR: Senior Mark Tucker turned in the best race of his career at the NCAA Pre-National Meet and was named Horizon League Men's Cross Country "Athlete of the Week" for his effort. Tucker placed fifth in the final individual standings at the pre-nationals in 23:55.9. His time was the second-fastest ever recorded by a Butler cross country runner!

NATIONAL NOTICE: Butler stands 19th in the most recent Mondo Men's NCAA-I Cross Country Poll, conducted by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association. The Bulldogs have been ranked as high as 12th in the national poll this season. Stanford continues to be ranked No. 1 in the nation.

BULLDOG BITS: Butler is ranked eighth in the Great Lakes Region men's cross country poll. Eastern Michigan tops the region, followed by Wisconsin, Central Michigan, Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State...Butler senior Marty Fedmowski is the defending Horizon League Men's Cross Country individual champ. He won last year's race in 24:40, after finishing runner-up in the 2000 league meet. Fedmowski is the only runner to be named Horizon League Men's Cross Country "Athlete of the Week" twice this season...Senior Brad Bennett earned all-conference honors last fall with a fifth-place individual finish in 25:00 at the league championship. Bennett also earned all-conference honors at the 2000 league meet...Butler seniors Lissa Vogley and Amber Gascoigne are both returning all-conference runner. Vogley placed fourth at last year's Horizon League Women's Cross Country Championship, while Gascoigne came in ninth...Butler's women had six runners finish between 12th and 18th place at the 2001 Horizon League Championship, and five of those runners return this year. Alison VanDerWege was 12th, Bethany Gaskill placed 13th, Kelly Moring finished 14th, Lauren Brentano came in 16th and Monika Schneider was 18th a year ago.