Bears Expect Another Record Breaking Season

The 2001 Women's Cross Country team had the most successful season in school history.  The Bears established a new school record with 69 wins, set fourteen new top twenty best ever Shawnee State University cross country times, and won the Kentucky Christian Invitational, and their fourth consecutive Shawnee State University Invitational.  They finished second, by one point, at both the “Big Blue Challenge” and the famous “Legends” race. Coach Mangus expects this year's team to be even stronger as a result of an outstanding recruiting year and the return of three of the top five runners from last year's squad that finished 6^th in the NAIA Regional meet.

The nine-meet schedule is extremely challenging. It includes trips to Asbury-Jassamine Special at Asbury College, Wilmore KY; the Hanover College Invitational at Hanover College, Hanover, IN; the "Big Blue Challenge” sponsored by Bluefield State College at Camp Creek, WV; the Greensboro Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina; and the Gettysburg College Invitational in Gettysburg, PA. It also includes the Kentucky Christian College Invitational, the Rio Grande Invitational, The Wilmington Fall Classic and the 5^th Annual Shawnee State Invitational. "The AMC championships will be held at Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, NY, and we are looking for a strong finish to the season,” said Coach Mangus.

This will be a young team as the Bears only have two returning lettermen from last year's squad. They are senior team captain, Holly Amlin (Waverly OH), and junior Kimberly Howard (Whitehall OH).   The new members of the squad are sophomore transfers, Lindsay Allen (South Lebanon, OH), Jackie Dolan, (Goshen, OH), and Katelyn Frost, (Sunbury, OH).  They will bring experience to the squad.  Five talented freshman, Kristyn Allen, Kings H.S. (South Lebanon, OH), Sadie Carson, Kings H.S. (Morrow, OH.); Jennifer Henman, Kenton Ridge H.S. (Springfield, OH); Jennifer Nichols, Ypsilante H.S. (Ypsilante, MI), and Randi Pfeffer, Eastern Brown H.S. (Ripley, OH), will challenge for top five spots on the squad.

"This is a young, very talented team. Any one of the top ten runners could finish in the top five at any given meet. They are that close in race times.  If everything falls in line, this team has a shot at qualifying for the NAIA National meet.  I expect this group to re-write the Shawnee State Cross Country record book by the end of the season."