Men and Women's Cross Country Teams Place 4th and 5th at Miami Fall Classic

9/24/2001

OXFORD, Ohio – The Marshall men’s cross country team placed fifth while the women’s team took fourth at the sixth annual Miami Fall Classic this Saturday. Miami, the host team, secured first place in both the men and women’s meets.

Marshall’s men finished with 129 points and a total time of 2:12:43:84 in the 8,000 meter run. Casey Batey (Milton, WV) crossed the finish line first for the Herd with a time of 25:28.00, which placed him seventh. Trailing Batey was Craig Swisher (Bidwell, OH) coming in 12th with a time of 25:42.00. Also scoring for the Herd were Jacob Porter (Barboursville, WV), Jason Pyles (Galipolis Ferry, WV), and Brad Koehler (Charleston, WV).

The women took fourth place in the 6,000 meter run with 87 points and a time of 1:57:38.00. Jennifer Merschoff (Ronkonoma, NY), leading the Marshall pack, executed a ninth place finish with a time of 23:07:00. Other scorers for the Herd included Shelby Pride (Bethel, OH), Sarah Corely (Fairmont, WV), Varinka Barbini (Flanders, NJ) and Jessica Taylor (Fayetteville, WV).

Miami men beat runner-up Ohio State, scoring 37 points. Ohio State ended the meet with 43 points, while Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia tied for third with a score of 85. Following Marshall were Morehead State (167) and Pittsburgh (182).

The Miami women ran away with the meet beating second place Pittsburgh 46-71. West Virginia (82) fell into third place, followed by Marshall, Ohio State (112), Eastern Kentucky (129) and Morehead State (156).

The Herd will run again Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Loyola Lake Front Invitational in Chicago, Ill.