BEREA, OHIO -The Baldwin-Wallace College men's and women's cross country teams will both set high goals for the fall 2011 season. Each team plans to contend for an Ohio Athletic Conference Championship.

A year ago, both the Yellow Jacket women's and men's teams posted high finishes all season. The women had two second place finishes, including one at the 2010 OAC Championship Meet. The women were sixth of 19 schools at the All-Ohio Meet and seventh of 34 teams at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Meet. Highlighting the season was senior Kim Chinn '11 who placed second at the OAC meet, third at the regional meet and earned All-America honors with a 13th place showing at the national meet.

The B-W men were fourth at the OAC Meet, eighth at the All-Ohio and 16th at the NCAA regional meet. Its top two runners return after leading that team to its best showings in a few years.

Head Coach Dr. Bill Taraschke enters his 28th year overall at the College and 21st as cross country coach. He has high expectations for each team. The  women have one top returnee and will count on several young student-athletes for leadership and to compete for the top performance roles. The men return its top two runners  and have four others with the potential to become team leaders. Combined, 20 letterwinners return, including 10 for each squad.

Taraschke has built one of the most successful running programs in all of Division III.  He has led his track and cross country teams to 48 OAC titles, including 12 in women's cross country, and has been named OAC Coach of the Year or been a member of an OAC Coaching Staff of the Year on 36 separate occasions. In addition, Taraschke has guided 10 women's cross country runners to OAC individual titles.

"Our men's squad returns its top two runners and we have the talent to move up into the top three in the league this year," said Taraschke. "This group has been together for a few years now and they have been getting better each year.  This year, we are hoping that the men really blossom into an OAC contender."

"The rest of the pack can be good depending on summer running and how hard they worked this past offseason." said Taraschke. "The other variable is improvement from last season to this season and the desire to be a champion.  We feel that we have a solid group of young women who are strong students and runners."

On the men's team there are two All-OAC returnees in junior Ken Janosko (Mentor) placed  third at the OAC Meet and led the team at the regional meet by placing 24th in 25:47.8. He also placed first in the 5,000-meter run at the OAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Senior Zach Szablewski (Tiffin/ Calvert) placed seventh last year at the OAC Meet and 40th at regionals in a time of 26:03.2.

Other top returnees are seniors Tom Wilkin (Powell/ Olentangy Liberty), Drew Beck (Canandaigua, N.Y./ Canandaigua Academy), and sophomore Dusan Vasic (Broadview Heights/ Brecksville-Broadview Heights).  In addition, look for contribution from seniors Nicholas Jeffers (South Amherst/ Firelands), Mike Sisko (Olmsted Falls), Mark Warman (Strongsville), juniors Ryan Fallow (Medina), David Gerding (Strongsville), Andrew Ventura (Avon) and sophomore Steven Humbert (Middletown/ Lakota East).

"Zach (Szablewski), Kenny (Janosko), Drew (Beck), Tom (Wilkin) and Dusan (Vasic) all had good track seasons and that should give us a good group of five. We also expect our other returning guys to step up to fill out our lineup." said Taraschke. "I feel we can be in the top two or three of the OAC this fall, and possibly compete for a title depending on the improvement of each student-athlete."

The men's and women's teams open the 2011 season at The College of Wooster Invitational on September 1 at 6:00 p.m. The 2011 OAC Championship Meet will be hosted by Ohio Northern University on October 29 at 11 a.m. and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet is November 12 at 11 a.m. at Oberlin College in Oberlin. The 2011 NCAA Division III National Championship Meet will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 11 a.m. on November 19.

"The biggest key for both the men and women is to come together as a team," noted Taraschke. "When looking at cross country and indoor and outdoor track and  field, cross is the one sport where the team performance as a whole matters most. Your sixth and seventh finisher is just as important as the top two. We have to get a good feeling for one another and run in a good pack."

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.