EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Mary Schwerdt continued her consistent running with a third and fourth place finish at the Cougar Twilight Meet Saturday evening at Olympic Festival Stadium as she led the Clayton College & State University track teams on their longest road trip for Laker or Lady Laker runners since the 1996 NAIA National Cross Country Championships. Clayton State's coaches selected just five runners to compete at this particular meet, which included Depaul, Missouri-Rolla, and Illinois State, all NCAA Division I schools.

Schwerdt finished third in the 800-meter with a time of 2:23.27 and then followed that effort with a fourth place finish in the 1500-meter with a time of 4:59.26. Aidita Gibson came in seventh in the 800m  (2:26.09), followed by Jan Trainor's eighth place finish with a time of 2:27.04, her best effort of the season.

On the men's side, Tye Walker came in seventh in the 1500m (4:15.18), while Steven Parrish place 10th' (4: 22.50).

"Jan had a breakthrough race for us," said Clayton State head coach Mike Mead. "She improved her 800m time by five seconds, and she has the ability to improve even more. Mary was solid as always, and we hope that she can improve her times even more next Saturday at the University of Georgia Invitational. We are looking for big things down the road from everyone else."

Clayton State will travel to Athens on Saturday to compete in its final meet of the programs' inaugural season as an official intercollegiate sport.