Bears Look to Improve on Record Season

The 2001 Women's Cross Country team is coming off the most successful season in school history.  The Bears established a new school record with 45 wins, set seven new top ten best ever times, and won meet championships at the Kentucky Christian Invitational, the Pikeville College Invitational, and the Shawnee State Invitational. Coach Mangus expects this year's team to be even stronger as a result of an outstanding recruiting year and the return of the top four runners from last year's squad.

The nine meet schedule is extremely challenging. It includes trips to the Forest Festival Invitational at Davis & Elkins College; the "Big Blue" Invitational sponsored by Bluefield State College at Camp Creek, WV; the Greensboro Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina; and of course the famous 26th Annual "Legends" course in Ashtabula, OH. It also includes the KCC Invitational, the Rio Grande Invitational, The Wilmington Fall Classic and our own Shawnee State Invitational. "The AMC championships will be held at Rio Grande and we are looking for a strong finish to the season. With changes in the qualifying process several runners have a chance at qualifying for the NAIA National cross country meet," said Coach Mangus.

The Bears have four returning lettermen from last year's squad. They will be led by senior Erica Scheuffle (Olympia WA), junior, Holly Amlin (Waverly OH) and sophomores, Kimberly Howard (Whitehall OH), and Danielle Sims-Smith (Cincinnati OH).  Returning to the team from the 1999 squad is junior Rachel McClintic (Portsmouth, OH). The new members of the squad are senior Becky Holden and three talented freshman, Patricia Morris of Bucyrus High School, Ashley Thomas of Meigs County High School, and Stacey Johnson of Paint Valley High School.

"This is a very talented and deep team. Anyone of the top ten runners could finish in the top five at any given meet. They are that close in race times. At least two have a shot at qualifying for the NAIA National meet. We should have our first ever Cross Country Academic All-America from this squad. I expect this group to hold every Shawnee State Cross Country record by the end of the season."