CANTON, Ohio - For the first time in the program's 4-year history, the Blue Knight cross country teams competed in a post-season race on Saturday morning.  The event was the Ohio Independent Championships, hosted by Walsh University.  

 

Five men's and five women's teams, all Ohio NCAA D-II Indepedents, competed on Saturday, and the top 3 spots on both sides went Malone, Cedarville and Walsh in first, second and third, respectively.  Urbana finished fifth as a team in both races.

 

The Blue Knight men were led by senior Eddie Erion (pictured) one more time.  The 4-year captain donned the Royal Blue and White one more time in his career, finishing the 8K in 29:36 to take 25th place out of 35 runners. Erion was the only Blue Knight to break the 30-minute barrier in the final race of the season.  

 

Fellow senior Andy Stephan finished second on the squad for the 7th consecutive race this fall, rounding out his cross country career with an 8K time of 31:57.  Stephan was followed closely behind by junior Jordan Perry, who crossed the finish line in 32:56.  Joshua Cronin (34:38), Ryan Castle (34:41), Patrick Malloy (35:05) and Josh Brown (37:48) rounded out Urbana's finishers in the men's race.

 

On the women's side, the Blue Knights were led by freshman Melissa Bell, as they have been all season long.  Bell ran the final 5K of her first collegiate season in 27:46.  Fellow UU newcomer Liz Lynch crossed the finish line right behind Bell in a time of 28:43, and junior Sara White took third on the squad with a time of 28:47.  Senior Sarah St. Clair completed her 4-year cross country career with a time 29:18, running the race just a few hours after completing her second swim meet of the season on Friday night.  Freshman Chelsea Bond completed her rookie season with a 29:58, and junior Jessica Thomas rounded out the Blue Knights' results with a 31:38.

 

The Blue Knights are now finished in 2011.  They return to the course next fall for the program's 5th season. [Men's Results]