PENNSYLVANIA PALS PREPARE FOR UAA CHAMPIONSHIPS...
CLEVELAND, OH (March 7, 2008) - Once teammates at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Penn., freshmen Andrea Fischione (Export, PA) and Justine Jeroski (Murrysville, PA) have played an integral part in the success of the cross country and track and field squads this school year.
Fischione earned second-team All-UAA honors in cross country and finished third among all Division III runners at the All-Ohio Invitational this past fall. Jeroski was also stellar for the Spartans this past fall, as she ran in four races with her best finish coming at the Wooster Invitational, where she finished with a time of 19:38.00.
Both freshmen and the other runners women’s cross country team made it all the way to Northfield, Minn. to compete in the NCAA Division-III Cross Country Championships this past fall, where they finished sixth overall – the best finish (men or women) in Case Western Reserve cross country history.
Even with the intense atmosphere that was associated with the NCAA Championships, the women found a great way to lighten up the mood.
“We did the hokey-pokey on the line,” Fischione said. “It helped relieve a lot of stress.”
Although they are very similar in many aspects of their lives, Fischione and Jeroski are headed in seemingly different paths in the classroom, as Fischione is a biology and pre-med student at the University, while Jeroski is studying engineering.
“I was just looking for a school with strong academics and Case Western Reserve has a really good acceptance rate into medical school, which I hope to do one day,” Fischione said.
“We didn’t know we would go to the same school, it just kind of worked out that way,” Jeroski added. “Case Western Reserve has a very strong engineering program and I wanted to compete in Division III athletics and still be able to focus on my studies.”
The two have made a seamless transition to the indoor track and field season this winter, as both have a University Athletic Association top-ten time in the 5,000-meter run and the 3,000-meter run, which they will compete in this weekend when the Spartans host the 2008 UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Both are looking to finish better at this year’s UAA Championships after the Spartans took fifth at last year’s meet. Being in Cleveland this year could certainly help.
“It will be nice to have the meet here,” Jeroski said. “Many of us have family and friends coming in, so there will be a lot of people there watching.”
The UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will kickoff today with field events beginning at 12:00 p.m., with running events to follow at 4:30 p.m. Tomorrow, field events will start at 9:00 a.m., with running events set to begin at 12:00 p.m.
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