Clayton State cross country teams head to Division II South Regionals in Memphis
Kreutzer, Cobb amongst favorites in women’s race

MORROW, Ga. — NOVEMBER 1, 2006 — The Clayton State Laker women’s cross country team will face their biggest challenge of the season on Saturday when they compete in the NCAA Division II South Regional Championships in Memphis, Tenn. The Lakers, the No. 4 ranked team in the region, will vie for one of the three spots open to advance to this fall’s NCAA championship meet in Pensacola, Fla., later this month.

Last month, Clayton State fell short of winning its first Peach Belt Conference title while turning in its best team performance in the 12-season history of the program.

“I was bummed after coming up short at the Peach Belt meet,” said Head Coach Mike Mead. “Our ladies ran an admirable race, but we were just so close. But the region meet is where we need to make our mark.”

Clayton State has a chance to match their best finish at this year’s region meet, led by the one-two punch of junior Allison Kreutzer and senior Angela Cobb. In Clayton State’s first eligible year in the NCAA’s back in 1997, the Lakers finished third in the region and finished the season ranked No. 23 in Division II. Their best finish since then has been seventh place on three occasions, the most recent in 2004.

Kreutzer and Cobb – dubbed the “A Team” by fellow teammate Titisha Cochran earlier this fall — have finished first and second in five of six races this fall and will be among the individuals vying for the region title. Kreutzer will be seeking her third trip to the NCAA meet after a second place finish in 2004 and a fourth place finish last season. Cobb is coming off her best collegiate race, winning the Peach Belt in a meet and CSU record time of 17:20.

“Allison and Angela are primed and have an excellent shot at going to nationals if the team comes up short,” said Mead. “But this team has worked hard all season and they’re in a position to all advance. They have to believe and go out and perform on Saturday.”

Besides the top three teams, individual runners finishing in the Top 5 and who are not on one of the three squads advancing to the national meet also advance to the November 18 meet as individuals. “Our main team competition will be Harding, Tampa, Alabama-Huntsville and Florida Southern,” said Mead.

Besides Kreutzer ands Cobb, the Lakers will be experienced with senior Cassandra Bolivar in the No. 3 team spot. At the Peach Belt meet, Bolivar turned in a career-best showing by finishing fifth to earn all-conference honors. The No. 4 spot has been in the capable hands of junior Terrica Hamilton who has improved her 5K best by over a minute this season. The crucial No. 5 spot will be filled by either freshman Maria Larsen or junior Katelyn Stache. Both have run career-bests this season and have finished No. 5 at different times during the season. The seventh runner for Clayton State on Saturday will be senior Melissa Fernandez who ran her first meet of the season at the Peach Belt meet after coming back from a summer injury.

“As a team, we’ve made steady improvement in each of our last three races,” said Mead. “We will have to make a slight adjustment on Saturday when we switch from the 5K distance to the 6K distance. We will need to be aware of our position in the race and get after it the last half mile.”