Sept. 26, 2005

DAYTON, OH - University of Dayton junior runner Dianne Striebel won the Dayton River Corridor Half Marathon Sunday in a time of 1:24:54, winning the title that UD's coach, Ann Alyanak, won last year.

Striebel, who finished fourth last year, used her speed to pull away from the pack after about five miles and never looked back. She ran a solid last few miles to hold off 2000's winner, Amy Beatty, who ran a time of 1:28:51.

"I just felt good and kept going with it," Striebel said. "It was a great race."

Alyanak won last year's race, but decided to skip this year's to train for her next event, the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota. If she does well enough in the Twin Cities, it will qualify her for the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials. The race is the first and only qualifier in 2005.

Striebel has done well this year for the Flyers cross country team, finishing fifth in the Flyer 5K Challenge and 17th at the National Catholic Invitational in South Bend, IN.

The next event for Coach Alyanak and her Flyers is the All-Ohio Championships in Delaware, OH on October 7.