April 2, 2001

Wheaton, Ill. - The men's track and field team opened up the outdoor season with an 11th-place finish of 22 points while the women's team placed 14th with 21 points at the Wheaton College Invitational on Saturday.

North Central College took home the men's title with 131 points followed by Carthage College (130.50), Carroll College (66.75), Elmhurst University (61), Wheaton College (58.75), UW-Parkside (57.50), UW-Whitewater (53), College of DuPage (47.25), Chicago State (35), University of Chicago (29), UIC, Harper College (20), Benedictine University (16), North Park University (15), Concordia University (11), MSOE (10.50), Loyola University (5), Olivet Nazarene (5) and Lewis (0.75).

Junior Russ Riberto (Chicago, Ill./Marist) was the top performer on the men's side as he placed third overall in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 35:03.9. Senior Barry Somerville (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles) also turned in a solid effort in the 110-meter high hurdles with a fourth-place finish of 15.41.

Carthage College captured the overall women's title with 142 points followed by North Central College (121), Carroll College (100), UW-Whitewater (67), Wheaton College (61), University of Chicago (43), Elmhurst University (39), North Park University (34), Harper College (27), College of DuPage (27), Lewis (25), Benedictine University (22), UW-Parkside (22), UIC, Concordia (9), Loyola (7) and Olivet Nazarene (3).

Leading the charge for UIC's women's team was freshman Jenni Goebel (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook). Goebel earned a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:41.90. The Flames also received a third-place finish from their 400-meter relay team with a time of 49.8.

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as they will travel to Naperville, Ill., to participate in the Chicagoland Championships.