SEAN EARL INVITATIONAL...
CLEVELAND, OH (September 29th, 2007) -
Case Western Reserve University senior Esther Erb (Richmond, VA-pictured) won her third consecutive race as the 8th ranked women’s cross country team moved up to the Gold Division and placed 3rd out of 19 teams at the 35th annual Loyola of Chicago Sean Earl Invitational in Chicago, Illinois.
Division I Purdue University took first overall with 80 points followed by Western Ontario in second with 81 points and your Division III Spartans with 129 points. Case defeated several Division I opponents including Eastern Michigan, Creighton, Loyola-Chicago and Illinois-Chicago, thus proving they are a force to be reckoned with in the nation.
Spectacular Spartan performances were made by Erb who proved Division III student-athletes can hang with top national Division I talent. Erb, coming off two consecutive first place finishes, ran her race in 17:35 finishing in first place out of 203 student-athletes for her fourth victory as a Spartan and third of the season. She defeated Haley Moody from Alabama by four seconds as she broke away during the last 800 meters. Freshman Andrea Fischione (Export, PA) finished with a time of 18:41 in 21st place. Junior Britta Kumley finished 26th with a time of 18:49. Junior Kristen Bowhers (Rochester, NY) and sophomore Joy Zhu (Chalfont, PA) rounded out Case’s top five finishers coming in 48th and 49th respectively.
 There were two divisions at the Invitational, Maroon and Gold. Last year, the woman won the Maroon, beating out thirty-two colleges at the meet. The Maroon Division consists of Division II, III, NAIA and Canadian schools, while the Gold Division allows Division II, III, NAIA and Canadian schools to participate in the competition if they are ranked nationally, or are approved by meet management.
Both of the Spartans cross country programs were allowed to compete against Division I universities in the Gold Division. This meet was a huge test before next week's All-Ohio Championships in which the Spartans compete against every school from the Buckeye state.
The prestigious Sean Earl Invitational is one of the largest cross country meets in the nation, as fifty collegiate teams competed in both Divisions.
Head Coach Kathy Lanese was extremely pleased with the results.
“This is the best experience we’ve ever had, the women were very nervous before the race and were in a situation they have never been in before,” said Lanese. "This was huge prep for the national meet."
The Spartans will travel to Delaware, Ohio Friday for the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan University. The meet begins at 2:00 p.m.
Team Results
Individual Results
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