Record breaking high temperatures of near 90 degrees greeted the runners in the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware. The meet hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University is perhaps the most unique collegiate cross-country race in the country as most of the Ohio colleges and universities were on hand for the 53rd annual men's race and the 28th annual women's race.

The women ran first this year and twenty-five women hit the first mile between 5:57 and 5:59 in this 5km event. Five women would hit the two- mile mark in 11:42/11:43. Case Western Reserve's senior Esther Erb (18:29) would pull away from Miami University's sophomore Laura Neufarth (18:32) on the final hill with 400 meters to go to post the win. Erb became the second Division III runner to win the overall title. Last year Division III Wooster's Katie Wieferich won. The only other non-Division I runner to win the women's championships was in 1997 when NAIA Malone runner Ann Marie Hynes took home the gold.

A pair of Cincinnati freshmen captured the third and forth places awards as Lilian Jelimo (18:37) nipped her teammate Jill Glassmeyer by a second. Ohio University's sophomore Carime Reinhart (18:43), Shawnee State's senior Lisa Davies (18:51), Ohio University's sophomore Annie Beechman (19:02) and junior Kari Summers (19:03) rounded out the top eight. Akron's sophomore Heidi Gross (19:05) and Miami's freshman Rachel Patterson (19:09) completed the top ten

On the strength of their fifth runner Miami University (75 points) edged defending champion Ohio University (80 points), while Akron (100) edged Cincinnati (103) for third. Forty-four Ohio women college and university teams participated.

Cedarville College had five runners finish in the top ten of the NAIA and NCAA Division II athletes to defend their team title with 30 points Sophomore Lydia Wong (19:15) was Cedarville first finisher. Malone placed second with 44 points while Findlay (67) and Shawnee State (131) rounded out the top four.

Case Western Reserve placed four runners in the top six for the Division III athletes to easily defend their title with 25 points. Baldwin Wallace (116) edged host Ohio Wesleyan (124) and Oberlin (141) for runner up honors.

No one would take the pace out in the men's 8km race with the high temperature and a lead pack of twenty five would hit the first mile in 5:05, However, the pace would quicken as twenty five runners went through the two mile mark under ten minutes. Ohio University's senior Craig Leon would hit the four mile mark in 20:10 with a pair of Malone runners junior Nik Schweikert and senior Ryan Kienzle were just a second back. However, on the final uphill to the finish Kienzle would pull away to win in 25:13 while his teammate Schweikert (25:21) finished second. Leon would finish a close third in 25:24. Malone's freshman Aaron Melhorn (25:57), Bowling Green's sophomore Eddie Kiphoge (26:02), Cincinnati's junior Randy King(26:03), Tiffin's junior Chad Roberts (26:07), Case Western Reserve's junior Dominic Smith (26:14), Ashland's junior Jeremy Trein (26:23) and Cincinnati's Brad Neumann (26:26) rounded out the top ten.

Malone College had five runners in the top twelve to easily win the overall team title with 32 points. Cincinnati placed second with 90 while Ohio University was third with 179 points. Division III Ohio Northern University finished an impressive fourth with 203 points. Three time defending champion Ohio State University ran their second team and placed fifth with 213 points one point ahead of Akron. Thirty nine men's teams competed.

In the NCAA Division II/NAIA scoring Malone won with 19 points. Ashland University (68) held off Shawnee State (80) for runner up honors.

Malone College repeated as the NCAA Division II/NAIA team winner with 37 points. Cedarville College (58) edged Ashland University (62) for runner up honors.

Ohio Northern (54) overtook defending champion Mount Union (88) to win the Division III team title. Heidelberg (90) and Case Western Reserve (7) rounded out the top four.

Former Ohio State University standout Lyndsi Benedict (17:46) destroyed the open field to win the women's open race, which is open for post collegiate runners and the reserves of the various colleges and universities.

Neal Holtschulte (25:40) a 2005 graduate of Williams College return to the course he won the 2005 NCAA Division III individual title to win the men's open 8km.

Complete race results are posted on RUNOHIO's web site under Race Results www.runohio.com, also check the RUNOHIO web site for race photos.