Women's Cross Country

NOVEMBER 17:
NAIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

SOMERS, Wis. -- University of St. Francis sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) ran a time of 20:02 over the five-kilometer course and finished 192nd among 268 runners at the NAIA women's Cross County Championships Saturday. The race was held at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Bannatz got caught in traffic early and was unable to move herself up to the faster pack of runners at the start of the race. Her time of 20:02 was 27 seconds slower than the 19:35 clocking she ran two weeks earlier at the NAIA Region VII Championships in Bettendorf, Iowa.

NOTES: For Bannatz, it marked her second straight trip to the NAIA national cross country meet. She ran a time of 19:42 and finished 121st out of 268 runners at the 2006 meet in Louisville, Ky. She also ran in the NAIA outdoor track and field nationals last spring, competing in the 10,000 meters.

NOVEMBER 3:
NAIA REGION VIII CHAMPIONSHIP

BETTENDORF, Iowa — Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) qualified for her second straight NAIA Championship meet with a seventh-place finish at the NAIA Region VII Championships at Crow Creek Park.

Bannatz covered the five kilometers in a personal best time of 19:35. That mark was 35 seconds faster than her previous fast time of the season -- a 20:10 that she ran on Sept. 14 at the National Catholic Cross Cross Country Championships in South Bend, Ind.

Bannatz was the first runner that didn’t represent either of the co-champions -- Olivet Nazarene or Saint Xavier -- to cross the finish line.

Her strong finish helped the Saints grab eighth place overall.

USF’s other four scorers placed between 42nd and 59th place, led by freshman Danielle Menzynski (Leyden H.S./River Grove, IL) who covered the 5K course in a time of 21:22. Freshman Cairo Douglas (Neuqua Valley H.S./Naperville, IL) was 55th (22:31), sophomore Sarah Jocob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) was 57th (22:45) and freshman Nilma Ortiz (Elmwood Park H.S./Elmwood Park, IL) finished 59th (22:54).

Bannatz will travel to Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 17 for the NAIA meet.

NOTES: Menzynski also ran her fastest 5K time of the season at the Region meet ... Bannatz will get her second look at the course at Kenosha when she runs in the NAIA Championships. The course, though, will be shorter than the 6K race she ran with the Saints at the Carthage College Invitational back on Oct. 6. The course is at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and it has been the site of numerous NAIA and NCAA meets in recent years ... Bannatz ran a time of 19:42, her previous best 5K time, at the 2006 NAIA Championships as a freshman. The 2006 NAIA meet was held in Louisville, Ky.

OCTOBER 20 :
CHICAGOLAND COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

HAMMOND, Ind. — University of St. Francis ran to a fifth-place finish in the CCAC Championship meet Saturday at Lost Marsh Golf Course.

Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) again led USF and earned all-conference recognition after finishing 10th among 58 runners in the meet. Bannatz covered the five kilometers in a time of 20:12.

USF’s other four scorers finished within 1:20 of each other and their places ranged from 25th to 33rd.

Freshman Danielle Menzynski (Leyden H.S./River Grove, IL) led that pack of USF finishers with a 25th-place time of 21:52. Sophomore Sarah Jacob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) came in 30th (22:37). Sophomore Jennifer Horn (Montague H.S./Montague, MI) and freshman Nilma Ortiz (Elmwood Park H.S./Elmwood Park, IL) finished within six seconds of each other (23:06 for Horn, 23:12 for Ortiz) and placed 32nd and 33rd.

Olivet Nazarene won the team title by three points over Saint Xavier.

NOTES: Bannatz ran a 5K course for the third time this season and again finished just one second slower than her previous race. She ran a 20:10 at the National Catholic Cross Country Invitational in South Bend, Ind., back on Sept. 14. Two weeks later, Bannatz ran a 20:11 at the Sean Earl/Loyola University Lakefront Invitational. Today, she finished at 20:12 in the CCAC meet.

OCTOBER 6 :
CARTHAGE COLLEGE INVITATIONAL

KENOSHA, Wis. — The course was a little longer but the young Lady Saints responded with a fourth-place finish among six teams at the 6K Carthage College Invitational on Saturday.

The 6K distance was the longest for the Saints in four meets this fall. Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) again led USF with a sixth-place individual finish and a time of 25:23. Bannatz finished 1:23 behind the individual champion, Karen Jackson from host Carthage.

USF’s next three finishers were bunched together at 35th, 36th and 37th in the 75-runner field. Freshman Danielle Menzynski (Leyden H.S./River Grove, IL) led the USF trio with a time of 27:58. Two seconds behind Menzynski was sophomore Sarah Jacob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) and one more second back was freshman Cairo Douglas (Neuqua Valley H.S./Naperville, IL). Freshman Nilma Ortiz (Elmwood Park H.S./Elmwood Park, IL) captured 53rd place with a mark of 30:07.

NOTES: The 6K course was a longer version of the same course that will play host to the NAIA Championships in November. The course is located at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and has been the site of numerous NAIA and NCAA meets in recent years ... The Saints have run four meets thus far, and have run three different distances. They opened the season back in August at Elmhurst College in a 4K race. The next two meets -- at South Bend, Ind., and at Chicago’s lakefront -- covered distances of five kilometers. The race at Carthage is USF’s only 6K race of the 2007 season.

SEPTEMBER 29 :
SEAN EARLE/LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAKEFRONT INVITATIONAL

CHICAGO, Ill. — Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) led University of St. Francis with a time of 20:11 and a 46th-place finish in the 21-team small college division portion of the Sean Earle/Loyola University Lakefront Invitational at Montrose Avenue Beach on Saturday.

Bannatz was just one second slower than her time over a 5K course two weeks earlier at the National Catholic Cross Country Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

USF’s other top finishers included freshman Cairo Douglas (Neuqua Valley H.S./Naperville, IL) who ran a time of 21:56 (137th), sophomore Sarah Jacob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) a time of 22:05 (147th), sophomore Jennifer Horn (Montague H.S./Montague, MI) a mark of 22:18 (161st) and freshman Nilma Ortiz (Elmwood Park H.S./Elmwood Park, IL) who finished in 22:28 (172nd).

NOTES: USF placed sixth among six NAIA schools in the women’s college division field behind Saint Xavier, St. Ambrose (IA), William Woods (MO), Illinois Tech and Marian (IN) ... While Bannatz was a second slower than in the last 5K race, both Jacob and Horn improved on their times from the race at South Bend. Jacob was seven seconds faster and Horn knocked 10 seconds off her previous time.

SEPTEMBER 14 :
NATIONAL CATHOLIC CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) paced University of St. Francis with a 50th-place finish and a time of 20:10 over the five-kilometer course at the National Catholic Cross Country Invitational at the Burke Memorial Golf Course on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Bannatz, a participant in both the NAIA Cross Country and Track and Field national championships as a freshman a year ago, finished 1:16 behind college division first-place winner Margot Branigan of Saint Benedict College (MN).

Freshman Danielle Menzynski (Leyden H.S./River Grove, IL) was USF’s second finisher, covering the 3.1 miles in a time of 21:43. Sophomore Sarah Jacob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) was next for USF, running a time of 22:12. Sophomore Jennifer Horn (Montague H.S./Montague, MI) and freshman Cairo Douglas (Neuqua Valley H.S./Naperville, IL) completed the Saints’ scoring with times of 22:28 and 22:29, respectively.

NOTES: Douglas made her collegiate debut at Notre Dame while USF’s other freshmen in the race -- Menzynski, Jen Crouse (Seneca H.S./Seneca, IL) and Lisa Stolzenbach (Beecher H.S./Beecher, IL) each ran for the Saints in the first meet of the year at Elmhurst two weeks ago.

AUGUST 31:
ELMHURST EARLYBIRD INVITATIONAL

ELMHURST, Ill. --- Sophomore Meghan Bannatz (Novi H.S./Novi, MI) placed 28th with a time of 16:25 to lead University of St. Francis to a ninth-place finish among 13 teams at the Elmhurst College Earlybird Invitational.

USF freshman Danielle Menzynski (Leyden H.S./River Grove, IL) made her collegiate debut and was the Lady Saints’ second finisher, placing 48th with a time of 16:54 over the four-kilometer course.

Other USF scorers included sophomore Sarah Jacob (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) who came in 65th (17:38), freshman Lisa Stolzenbach (Beecher H.S./Beecher, IL) who placed 67th (17:46) and freshman Nilma Ortiz (Elmwood Park H.S./Elmwood Park, IL) who ran 68th (18:02).

Loras (IA) won the team title with a score of 42. USF finished third among NAIA schools, with its team score of 276 behind only Illinois Tech (113) and Robert Morris (189).

NOTES: Six freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Saints at the Elmhurst meet. In addition to Menzynski, Stolzenbach and Ortiz -- who placed among the top five Saints and counted in the team scoring -- freshmen Jen Crouse (Seneca H.S./Seneca, IL), Karina Baltazar (Hubbard H.S./Chicago, IL) and Courtney Burns (Plainfield South H.S./Plainfield, IL) all ran for the first time.