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Bluejay Cross Country Teams Run at Earlybird Invitational
ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2007 season by hosting the Elmhurst Earlybird Invitational. The Bluejay men's team placed third, while the women's squad scored a sixth-place finish.
The men's team finished with 68 points, just three points behind second-place Loras College's 65 points. The University of Chicago won the 6K race with 36 points.
Mike Ptack (Oak Park/Oak Park-River Forest) paced the Bluejay men with a sixth-place finish in 19:22.61. Pat Austin crossed the finish line in ninth place with a time of 19:28.52. Bob Spelich (Peru/LaSalle-Peru) placed 18th in 20:08.53. Brian McConnell (Delavan/H.S.) finished 20th in 20:13.55 while Travis Shepard (Sandwich/H.S.) finished right behind in 21st place with a time of 20:14.50. Ken Ptack (Oak Park/Oak Park-River Forest) finished 36th with a time of 20:41.29 while Drew Hatzold (Itasca/Lake Park) rounded out the Bluejays' top-seven with a 46th-place finish in 20:51.01.
On the women's side, the Bluejays totaled 174 points, 47 points behind fifth-place finisher Illinois Wesleyan University (127 points). Loras College won the 4K race with 42 points.
Elmhurst senior Marisa Mele (Naperville/Neuqua Valley) was leading the race before suffering an injury and was unable to finish. Katlyn Bednarski (Des Plaines/Maine West) was the Bluejays' top finisher, crossing the finish line in 26th place (16:18.21). Megan Johnson (Plano/H.S.) finished right behind Bednarski in 27th place with a time of 16:20.40. Laura Grabowski (Woodridge/Downers Grove South) placed 38th (16:32.82) while Maggie McTeague (Oak Forest/H.S.) placed 45th (16:39.56). Rebekah Clark (Aledo/H.S.) finished 63rd in 16:55.89 while Emily Mills (St. Joseph/St. Joseph-Ogden) finished 76th in 17:08.56. Emily Baldayga (Minier/Olympia) rounded out the Bluejays' top-seven in 95th place with a time of 17:29.18.
The Bluejays will take next weekend off and return to action on Friday, September 14, by running at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships.
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