The Ohio State men's cross country team finished 10th at the 2005 Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday with 360 points in the 8-kilometer race. The women's team was also impressive finishing fifth at the 2005 National Invitational Saturday in State College, Pa. The team was led by junior Nicole Gliem, who finished eighth overall.
Senior Brian Olinger set the pace for the Buckeyes with an eighth-place finish overall and a career-best time of 23:56. Also finishing in the top 100 for the Buckeyes were a trio of sophomores - John Ealy, who placed 71st, Braden Martinez and Alex Bailey, who placed 88th and 89th, respectively.
Coach Robert Gary said he was satisfied with the results of the race, although an injury to freshman Jeff See hurt the Buckeyes' chance of placing higher.
"It was a good race for us and we got a lot of points to qualify for nationals," Gary said.
Gary said he was pleased with the effort of his senior captain.
"Olinger ran really well and he has a goal of finishing in the top 10 at the NCAA meet," Gary said.
The next race for the team will be the Big Ten Championships Oct. 30 in Minneapolis, where Gary said he hopes his team will place in the top three.
Individually, Olinger said he is also aiming for a top three finish and believes the team can finish as high as second.
"Wisconsin is a heavy favorite and they have three great runners," Olinger said. "I want to break up their top three and finish near the top."
Chad Myers, coach of the women's cross country team, said he was impressed with his team's finish.
"It was probably one of our best races," coach Chad Myers said. "We finished ahead of Akron who beat us at the All-Ohio Championships."
Also leading the way for the Buckeyes in the 6-kilometer race was junior Melanie Price and sophomore Laura Piper, who finished 24th and 53rd respectively.
"We were extremely pleased with our results," Gliem said. "It was a really tough meet and was a big confidence booster for us."
Like the men, the next race for the women is the Big Ten Championships.
"We're going to the meet with our eye on five different teams," Myers said. "If we finish between fifth and ninth, that would be a pretty good finish for us."
Gliem echoed her coach.
"We want to really go there and compete and go after anyone in front," Gliem said. "It's a hard conference and we just want to compete."
Like Olinger, Gliem has her sights set on running placing high in competition.
"Individually I want to go and put it all out there," Gliem said. "I want to hang with the front pack and challenge for the top spots."
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