Sept. 2, 2005

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Terran Wertz, Josh Thompson and Sinan Khamo were the top competitors for the Lewis University women's and men's cross country teams Friday at North Central College's Chuck Carroll Invitational.

Wertz finished eighth among 75 runners in the women's race with a time of 25:10. Thompson placed 16th among 114 in the men's race with a 27:52 clocking, while Khamo finished 21st in 28:11.

First-year Head Coach Rick Wemple treated the season-opening meet as a workout instead of an all-out race attempt and did not field full teams.

"It was a very good day for our teams, and I believe we accomplished exactly what we wanted," Wemple said. "I held out six of our top eight men, and the two among the top eight who did compete, Josh Thompson and Sinan Khamo, ran very well.

"We purposely went out very slow in the first mile and then played the pick-off game the rest of the race. Josh and Sinan were among the last 20 to 30 guys at the mile mark, but you see where they finished."

Darren Orange, Evan Sather, Jeff Ritzema, Ryan Sather, Adam Singleton, Jared Lauer and Phil DeSantis also ran for the Flyer men.

"We did the same thing in the women's race, running just three of our top six," Wemple said. "At the mile mark, Terran was in the back third of the race, and Juliann Szablewski and Amanda Hammond were in the back quarter. Yet, all three moved up as the race progressed."