The Anderson University cross country team finished 24th at the NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Terre Haute.

Ashley Bordner led the Ravens with a 74th place finish in a time of 24:32.05.

“Our Ladies ran well,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “We were fourth among our conference teams where as we were fifth at the conference meet. Ashley Bordner stood out and this was here best race of the year by far. To perform your best as a freshman at this big of a meet is a good sign for the future. I was proud of our ladies effort.”

Other AU finishers were Erica Moffitt (78th, 24:34.55), Courtney Clevenger (126th, 25:26.41), Ashley Casterline (191st, 27:29.25) and Kayla Miller (197th, 27:48).

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished fifth at the nine-team Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Erica Moffitt led the Ravens with an eighth place finish in a time of 24:43 and was named All-Conference. Ashley Bordner was named HM All-Conference after finishing 17th in a time of 25:16.

Other AU finishers were Candace DeLong (24th, 26:07), Courtney Clevenger (33rd, 26:56), Ashley Casterline (38th, 27:11), Kristen Reiff (39th, 27:21), Kayla Miller (50th, 27:58) and Laura Sussman (67th, 30:07).

Manchester won the championship with 38 points, followed by Franklin (44), Rose-Hulman (70), Hanover (114), Anderson (117), Defiance (155), Transylvania (161), Bluffton (219) and Mt. St. Joseph 274).

For complete meet results go to:  http://www.runningtime.net/Races/XCHeartland2009/WomenOver.htm

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished fourth in the 10-team Manchester Invitational on Saturday in North Manchester.

Candace DeLong finished 10th in a time of 24:21 to lead the Ravens at the meet and Eric Moffitt was also in the top 15 with a 13th place finish in 24:37.

Other AU finishers were Ashley Bordner (31st, 25:40), Courtney Clevenger (39th, 26:14), Kristen Reiff (51st, 26:46), Ashley Casterline (54th, 26:53) and Laura Sussman (82nd, 29:09).

“We made a step forward with this meet,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “We had several people run personal bests today, which was good to see.  We have two more weeks to conference and I think that we can make another step forward for that meet.”

For complete results go to the Manchester website at http://www.manchester.edu/Athletics/crosscountry/stats/stats2009/2009mcinvite.pdf

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished 20th in the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday in South Bend.

Candace DeLong led the Ravens with a 112th place finish in a time of 20:08. Other AU finishers were Erica Moffitt (120th, 20:38), Ashley Bordner (127th, 21:11), Courtney Clevenger (133rd, 21:49), Kayla Miller (134th, 22:11) and Sydni Terrill (136th, 23:51).

“Our ladies did what they could,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “In a meet like this vs. Div. I schools we don’t score well, but it is an opportunity to test yourself against very good runners. Anytime you are challenged in a good way you can learn from it to make yourself better. They are doing that so that is a step forward.”

AU runs at the Manchester Invitational on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m.

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished 10th in the 14-team Little State meet at Indiana State University in Terre Haute on Friday.

Erica Moffitt led the Ravens with a 32nd place finish in a time of 20:47. Other AU finishers were Candace DeLong (39th, 20:58), Casey Gillespie (54th, 21:46), Courtney Clevenger (55th, 21:47), Ashley Bordner (57th, 21:48), Kristen Reiff (58th, 21:49) and Kayla Miller (73rd, 22:31).

“This was a good test for us,” said AU coach Scott Wilson. “It was good to see our team in action over a full length (8K) and we will get better over the course of the season. We are training pretty well so we hope to see progress in the coming weeks. Erica had a solid performance to lead our team.”

AU runs next at the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.

The Anderson University women’s cross country team finished fourth in the five-team Wabash Invitational on Saturday in Crawfordsville. The Raven men were fifth.

AU women finishers were DeLong/Moffitt (6th), Bordner/Reiff (13th) and Terrill/Clevenger (21st). DeLong ran mile times of 5:58, 5:58 and Moffitt’s marks were 6:11 and 6:16.

AU men finishers were Saunders/Wyatt (8th), Duncan/Dougherty (14th) and Holmes/Digman (15th). Sanders ran mile times of 4:56, 4:52, 4:50 while Wyatt’s marks were 4:57, 5:06 and 5:02.

“We gave a good effort,” said coach Scott Wilson. “The teams here today are good, but at looking at our individual results we did ok.  This meet is part of the process of training and racing.  We just need to keep working at it each day.   We get to test ourselves at real race distance at our next meet.”

AU runs at the Indiana Intercollegiate meet in Terre Haute on Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m.