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MEET 1

Bill Sudeck Invitational

Date: September 2, 2006

Time: 11:45 a.m.

Site: Cleveland Heights, Ohio

THE STARTING LINE: The Cleveland State women's cross country team opens its second season under head coach Joe Jaketic this weekend when the Vikings run at the Bill Sudeck Invitational in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The race, hosted by Case Western, begins at 11:45 a.m.

NO REBUILDING, JUST RELOADING: The Vikings return all five of six runners who competed in the Horizon League Championship last November, including their top finisher, senior Sherri Douglas. Sophomore twins Audrey and Julie Piotrowski also return, alongside junior Christina Swierz, a CSU softball player. Sophomore Madeline Singer also returns after competing in every race last year as a freshman.

DOUGLAS BACK FOR MORE: Douglas was the top Viking runner in six of CSU's eight races in 2005. She bolted to a 19:58 time and a 10th place finish in the Mel Brodt Invitational at Bowling Green to start last season on Sept. 10. Two weeks later, she finished 15th at the NCAA Great Lakes Pre-Regional in Westchester, Ohio with a 6K time of 23:16. Douglas received Horizon League Athlete of the Week honors for her 11:35.8 3K run at the Kent State Short Course Classic on Oct. 21.

OPPONENTS SEEING DOUBLE: Not only are Julie and Audrey Piotrowski identical twins, they each give opposing runners similar trouble. Both sisters finished among the Vikings' top three in every race they both ran in last year. Julie led the Vikings at the All-Ohio Championship in Delaware, Ohio on Oct. 7 with a 21:01 5K run and at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, Ind. with a 26:17.8 over the 6K course. Audrey finished second among CSU runners in four of the seven events she ran in. In order to tell them apart, remember "Julie" is a shorter name than "Audrey," and Julie has shorter hair than Audrey.

NEWCOMERS ADD DEPTH: The Vikings added freshman Caitlan Ebner and senior Shannon Graves to the squad for the 2006 campaign. Graves is coming off of a four-year career as an infielder on the softball team.

JAKETIC ON THE VIKINGS: "We are very excited to start the season. Everyone has been running very well in our workouts.  Our preseason workouts have been more intense than in past years and as a result I think we will be very competitive. "

UP NEXT: The Vikings travel to Akron to race in the Tom Evans Invitational next Saturday (Sept. 9). The race, hosted by the University of Akron, is slated to begin at 12:15 p.m.