Erin Nehus Aaron Harding and John Poray

November 16, 2005
(INDIANAPOLIS) The Indiana Invaders head to Rochester, New York to contest the 2005 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 19th.

The Invaders won the women's team title in 2001 and have had the women's individual champion twice in the past five years. Additionally the Invaders women's team has finished as National Runner-up three times in the last six years.

The women's roster consists of Erin Nehus, Stephanie Dueringer, Lesley Read, Jessica Textoris, and Heather May. Nehus, a graduate of Cedarville University, is a nine-time NAIA All-American. She holds the course record having won the 2005 GVH Cross Country Invitational in October of this year.

Dueringer, a graduate of Michigan State University, is a three-time NCAA D-I All-American. Read is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. Textoris, a graduate of Baldwin Wallace College, was 10th at the 2003 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in the 5,000. May, a graduate of Indiana University, is a 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon competitor.

The Invaders men's team in its 6 year history has had one Top 5 team finish and three athletes finish in the Top 10.

The men's roster consists of Hunter Spencer, Ted Turner, Caleb Bailey, Aaron Harding, and John Poray. Spencer, a graduate of the University of Kentucky, has won twice on this course while competing in the GVH Cross Country Invitational ('04 & '05). He was fifth in the Mile at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships. Turner, a graduate of SUNY Geneseo and John Jay High School (NY), is a six-time DIII All-American in Cross Country. Bailey, a graduate of Western Carolina University, competed on the US Junior National Team in 2000 (1500). Harding is a 2005 graduate of Indiana State University. Poray is a two-time NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championship competitor in the 10,000.

Team Director and Coach Greg Harger said, "These athletes are excited to be the initial wave of our first rebuilding experience. The fact that we have been around long enough to have an experience rebuilding a team is a tribute to all those that have supported our initial efforts in Indiana to build a national class Elite Development Program. We are certainly at risk competitively lining up just five athletes for both teams but they are not afraid of the challenge and I expect we will have 100% best efforts from each athlete on Saturday. We expect to return to the top of the team and individual podiums by 2007." Harger added, "We have the beginnings of two distance squads with the potential to have an impact on the national championships for years to come. Competitions focused on team scoring between resident based training groups are the key element to bringing experience to young, emerging elite athletes in preparation for national and international competition."

This is the seventh edition of the USA Club Cross Country Championships and is expected to have over 850 athletes competing.

2005 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships
http://www.usatf.org/events/2005/USATFClubXCChampionships/

The Indiana Invaders, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998, presents an innovative approach to track & field by providing a resident-based, athlete-centered support system unique to the sport in the United States.