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2013 Lucian Rosa Start List

Lucian Rosa Previous Champions

8K Course Map

5K Course Map

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 10, 2013)-- An international field will descend upon the Dannehl National Cross Country Course this weekend as the University of Wisconsin-Parkside cross country squads host the 27th-annual Lucian Rosa Invitational on Saturday.

29 teams and 631 athletes representing seven states and Canada will compete this weekend, with teams hailing from all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, Canadian and junior college ranks. The men's 8,000-meter race will begin at 10 a.m. with the women's 5,000-meter race to follow at 11 a.m.

About the Meet: The Lucian Rosa Invitational is named after UW-Parkside Hall of Famer Lucian Rosa. Rosa was a 1972 and 1976 Olympian. In 1974, he was fourth in the Boston Marathon and ranked 11th in the world. In the 1976 Olympics, he was the only runner defending gold medalist Frank Shorter feared. Standing at the starting line, Lucian was not allowed to run because his country withdrew for political reasons. While running for the Rangers, he was an eight-time All-American and six-time national champion. He won the USTF Marathon three times, the NAIA Marathon twice and the NAIA six-mile once. Lucian coached the Rangers in men's cross-country and track from 1977-2007.

Meet History: The UW-Parkside men have won the meet twice (2010 and 2011). There will be no repeat champion this year on the men's side with defending champion Cedarville University electing not to compete. 2012 runner-up Ferris State University is among the 29 teams toeing the line at 10 a.m. The only other previous champions in the 2013 field are Marquette University (1999 champions) and Lewis University (1997 champions).

Their will also be a new individual champion as Cedarville's Matt Brooker claimed the 2012 title, finishing in 24 minutes, 40 seconds. Charles Mulinga of Lewis owns the fastest time ever at the Lucian Rosa, clocking a 23:13 to win the 1994 edition. The Rangers have claimed the top individual finisher just once with Ben Orvold winning the race in 2010 (25:31).

On the women's side, UW-Parkside has claimed the title on six occasions (1988, 1989, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2011) most recently in 2011 when the Rangers won with a meet record 20 points, edging runner-up Carthage College by a 63-point spread. Defending champion Ferris State is back in the field, the Bulldogs have won the Rosa title three times in the last five seasons (2008, 2009 and 2012). Other previous champions in the field include Marquette (1996), Lewis (1997) and Northern Michigan University (2005).

Defending champion Jessica Watychowicz of UW-Parkside will not be defending her title, the 2012 All-American won the race in 17:24 last season. Watychowicz has exhausted her collegiate eligibility in cross country but will be suiting up for the Rangers during the track & field season. Ranger runners have won the individual title on seven occasions, including the past three years (Watychowicz in 2012, Hope Christie in 2011 and 2010).

The Field: 29 total teams will descend upon the Dannehl National Cross Country Course with 23 squads and 289 athletes slated for the men's race and 27 teams and 342 athletes for the women's race. Six of the teams hail from NCAA Division I, 11 from NCAA Division II, four from NCAA Division III, two from the NAIA, two from the NJCAA (junior college), one from Canadian Interuniversity Sport (Canada) and three university club teams.

From Division I: Chicago State University, DePaul University, University of Illinois-Chicago, Marquette University, Northwestern University (women only) and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (women only).

From Division II: Belmont Abbey University (men only), Ferris State University, Hillsdale College, University of Indianapolis, Lewis University, McKendree University (men only), Michigan Tech University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Northern Michigan University (women only), Upper Iowa University (women only) and UW-Parkside.

From Division III: Alverno College (women only), Illinois Institute of Technology, Mount Mary College (women only) and the University of Chicago.

From NAIA: Cardinal Stritch University and Madonna University.

From NJCAA: Cloud County Community College and Johnson County Community College.

From CIS: University of Windsor,

Club teams: Illinois XC Club, Marquette Running Club and Wisconsin Track Club.

Ranked teams: Several teams head into the Rosa Invite ranked regionally of nationally. On the men's side, Ferris State (sixth), Lewis (seventh), UIndy (eighth) and Hillsdale (ninth) are all ranked in the most recent USTFCCCA Midwest Region Poll for Division II while the University of Chicago men are ranked 16th nationally in Division III and sixth in the Midwest Region. Windsor enters the meet ranked fourth in the Canadian rankings.

On the women's side Northwestern ranks sixth in the Division I Midwest Region Rankings while in Division II Hillsdale is ranked 15th nationally and fourth in the Midwest. Ferris State is sixth in the Midwest while Lewis is seventh and UW-Parkside is ninth. U of Chicago ranks sixth nationally in Division III and is the top ranking squad in the Midwest Region.

Last Time Out: The Ranger men have been idle since Sept. 28, when the squad tallied a 10th place finish in the Maroon Division II race at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota. Gabe Poser led the way for the Rangers, placing 49th in 26:39. Kyle Staven was 53rd in 26:41 while Jake Dubnicka was 62nd (26:52).

The UW-P women placed 12th among non-Division I teams at the Great Louisville Classic last weekend at Tom Sawyer State Park. Lindsay Rogers placed 120th overall and 37th among non-Division I finishers clocking a 19:01.58 while Moriah Palmer was close behind in 19:03.89.

Looking ahead: The UW-Parkside men and women have one final tuneup before the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships. The Rangers head up to Winneconne, Wis., next weekend to race at the Brooks Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.