September. 14, 2007

Grand Forks, N.D. - The Bemidji State University Cross Country team began its season on Friday with a fifth place finish at the Ron Pynn Invitaitonal in Grand Forks, N.D.

Freshman Staci Letourneau (White Bear Lake, Minn.) led the Beavers on the day with a ninth place finish recording a time of 19:32. Freshman Brittany Becker (Grand Rapids, Minn.) was the next Beaver to cross the finish line as she ran a time of 20:07, good enough for 21st on the day.

The Beavers finished the meet in 5th place with a score of 130. The University of Manitoba took 1st in the event with a score of 49. Host team and fifth ranked in the North Central Region University of North Dakota finished in third with a total of 57.

Craig Hougen in his 13th season as the head coach of the Cross Country team will have a young team to work with, having only one senior in M’Kelle Tomberlin (Greenway, Minn.). Three juniors in Allison Osgood (St. Cloud, Minn.) Margaret Osgood (St. Cloud, Minn.) and Rebecca Hougen (Bemidji, Minn.), and three sophomores and five freshman rounding out the Beaver roster.

The team is next scheduled to compete on Sept. 29th as they are schedule to travel to the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.

--bsu--