Sept. 9, 2006

Northville, Mich. - The 12th-ranked Wayne State men's cross country team won its second straight meet to start the season, the latest victory coming at the Tommy Titan Invitational hosted by Univ. of Detroit Mercy.

The last time the Warriors won back-to-back races was in 2005, when WSU won three races in a row. The last time Wayne State won back-to-back races to start a season was back in the 2001 season, when it won the Motor City Invitational and the Concordia Invitational.

Senior Chris Mehay (New Baltimore, Mich./Anchor Bay) led all Warriors to finish in second place with a time of 20:25. Five Warriors finished in the top ten.

Wayne State alum Nick Allen won the match in 19:51, equaling his collegiate record time set in 2003.

Complete results are as follows:

Place. Team, Points
1. Wayne State, 26
2. Wayne State Alumni, 49
3. Front Line Racing, 50
4. Detroit, 122
5. Spring Arbor, 134
6. Macomb, 181
7. Oakland, 184
8. Niagara, 187
9. Jackson, 268
10. Concordia, 288
DNF. Madonna, Glen Oaks

Nick Allen

Wayne State Runners:
2. Chris Mehay, 20:25
4. Lance Jones, 20:48
5. Steve Mance, 20:53
7. Abdullah Saleh, 21:01
8. Kevin Christensen, 21:04
17. Dave Lucas, 21:44
18. Sam Breen, 21:49
33. Abdo Harby, 22:20
34. Dan Kapadia, 22:25
45. Vince Bechard, 23:19

Wayne State Alumni Runners:
1. Nick Allen, 19:51
3. Matt Fecht, 20:41
12. Brian Goodwin, 21:17
16. Mike Buslepp, 21:39
19. Joe Verellen, 21:52]

Quoting Coach Rick Cummins -- The men's race was kind of interesting. Our alumni had a good showing with a 1 and a 3. Nick and Matt are gearing up for fall marathons and are very strong. Chris ran a good race against the Front Line guys. I thought Lance ran very smart. Kevin and Abdullah were tough. Mance just goes out and gives it everything he's got. It was a very good effort overall. I am pleased with the workout."

Wayne State will next compete at the Bowling Green State Mel Brodt Invitational on Saturday, September 16.