Ripon, Wis. - Paced by a first-place finish by Bea Foley (So. - Greenville, Wis.), the Viterbo University women's cross country team picked up their fourth-ever meet title, claiming the title at the Wisconsin Private College Championship at the Cresco Prairie Conservancy on the campus of Ripon College.

In a battle of teams from the state's private colleges, the Lady V-Hawks defeated defending champion Beloit College by nineteen points to take the title in the fifteen team field.

"It was a great run by the women," Cross Country Head Coach John Metelko said. "They work well together and proved it down the stretch.Other than Bea, we did not get out to the start that we wanted, but they stayed patient and worked to move up throughout the race.By the end, our front six were running strong."

It was a collective team effort, as all five V-Hawk scorers had top-25 finishes. The V-Hawks were led by sophomore Foley who traversed the 6-k course in 23:22 to claim first place in the eighty-four runner field. Foley becomes the first Lady V-Hawk to earn an individual meet championship in school history. Freshmen Rosemary Loken (La Crosse, Wis.) and Danielle Stark (Fr. Prairie du Chien, Wis.) finished seventh and sixteenth overall in 24:34 and 25:33, respectively. Sophomore Cindy Leuck (Cashton, Wis.) finished twentieth overall and freshman Mollie Brady (Janesville, Wis.) finished twenty-fifth overall in a personal record time of 26:02.

"Bea is a hard-working runner and leader," Metelko said."Danielle is improving each week and gaining momentum.Rosemary and Cindy had great runs again, and have proven to be consistent finishers for us.Brady and Emma McCarthy (So. - Eleva, Wis.) had good performances, showing the results of their hard work."

In the men's race, freshmen Pedro Gonzalez (Long Branch, NJ) led the V-Hawks with a twenty-second place finish. Gonzalez covered the 8-k course in 27:49 and was followed closely by fellow freshmen Patrick Understeller (Mountain View, Hawaii) who finished thirty-eighth in the 104 runner field. The Viterbo men finished in seventh place in the thirteen team field for the second consecutive year and for the first time in the cross country team's history featured the top six runners all finishing the 8-k course in less than thirty minutes.

"The men had a good run," Metelko said. "It was a step in the right direction again. They worked together today and we will continue to work on maintaining focus throughout the entire race."

The V-Hawk and Lady V-Hawk runners hit the course again on Saturday, November 7th at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Overall Team Results:

Women: 1. Viterbo University (66), 2.Beloit Coll. (85), 3.Ripon Coll. (97), 4. Concordia U. (118), 5. Edgewood Coll. (131), 6. Wisconsin Lutheran Coll. (138) 7.St. NorbertColl. (171), 8. Alverno Coll. (205), 9. Cardinal StritchU. (222), 10.Marantha Baptist Coll.(234), 11.Northland Coll.(246), 12. Mt. Mary Coll. (255), 13. Milwaukee School of Engineering (301), 14.Marian U.(324), 15. Silver Lake Coll. (366)

Men: 1. Ripon Coll. (37 points), 2. St. Norbert Coll. (63), 3.Concordia U.(71), 4.Edgewood Coll.(112), 5. Milwaukee School of Engineering (133), 6. Beloit Coll. (135), 7. Viterbo University (185) 8. Marantha Baptist Coll. (232), 9. Northland Coll. (249), 10. Wisconsin Lutheran Coll. (309), 11.Cardinal Stritch U.(318), 12. Marian U. (324), 13. Silver Lake Coll. (incomplete)

Individual Viterbo Results

Women (out of84 runners, all times for 6-K)

1. Bea Foley 23:22

7. Rosemary Loken 24:34

16. Danielle Stark 25:33

20. Cindy Leuck 25:39

25. Mollie Brady 26:02

28. Emma McCarthy 26:09

48.Alli Weil27:52

50. Jennifer Johnson 27:57

64. Megan Mitchell 29:00

83.Kelsey Lange35:33

Men (out of 104 runners, all times for 8-K)

22. Pedro Gonzalez 27:49

38. Patrick Understeller 28:25

43. Cameron Olson 28:50

47. Sebastian Kingsbury 29:09

55. Nathan Spangler 29:31

58. Matt Long 29:47

74. Dennis Campos 30:51

100. Kyle Nordby 35:23