Sara was a three-time league champion in cross country.  She has also shown a great deal of range in track in running 1:01 in the 400 meter dash and 12:08 in the 3200 meter run.

"Sara has a great deal of untapped potential and will make a big impact on our team this fall," said Coach Putnam.

Amanda placed 25th at the Division I Regional Championship Meet as she finished the course in 20:00. 

"Amanda has a ton of potential and should have a great freshman year at SSU," said Coach Putnam.  "We are thrilled to have her sign with us."

McCauley was the 3rd runner on GlenOak's team that placed 3rd in the Division I State Cross Country Meet this year.  She placed 55th at the state meet in a time of 19:41.

"I think that Brianna will come in this fall and have an immediate impact on our team," said Coach Putnam.  "Brianna comes from a very strong high school program at Canton GlenOak."

LiPira placed 25th at the Regional Cross Country meet as she completed the course in 20:59.

"Brittney is a talented runner that can come in and immediately have an impact on our program next year," said Coach Putnam.  "I am very excited that she decided to come to Shawnee State."

A disappointing third place finish at the AMC/NAIA Region IX Championship resulted in the Shawnee State Men's Cross Country Team, ranked in the top 25 nearly the entire season, missing out on bid to the NAIA National Championship Meet.  Despite the lack of a team bid, two individuals from the men's team and one female runner are headed to Kenosha, WI for the National Meet.

Keegan Rathkamp and Corey Culbertson qualified from the men's team.  Rathkamp finished 9th at the AMC Championship in a time of 26:20.  Culbertson placed 11th in 26:25.  Both runners earned 2nd Team All-AMC recognition.

Lisa Davies finished 5th overall in the AMC Championship.  She set a school record as she covered the 5k-course in 18:11 and earned 1st Team All-AMC honors.

The National Championship Meet is November 17 in Kenosha, WI.  The men run at 10:30 followed by the women's event at 11:45.

Piketon High School's Amanda Burton has signed a letter of intent to run cross country at Shawnee State University.  Burton is the first member of the Bears' 2008 recruiting class.

Burton was a four-year letter winner in track at Piketon High School.  She also earned two letters in basketball and one letter in soccer.

"Amanda without any real distance running experience has run under 21:30 for a 5K this fall in a couple of road races," said Coach Eric Putnam.  "Amanda did not run high school cross country and was a sprinter in track.  Even with a little bit of concentrated training, I wouldn't be surprised to see Amanda run under 21 minutes early in cross country and possible breaking 20 minutes by the year's end."

Shawnee State  competes in the American Mideast Conference.  Shawnee State has had individual runners compete in the last four National Championship Meets.