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Women Sixth, Men 11th at NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Meet
Nov. 11, 2006
Women's Results
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO - Saturday afternoon, at the Forrest Creason Golf Course in Bowling Green, Ohio, the Marquette women's cross country team finished sixth of 34 teams, and the men 11th of31 teams, at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Junior Cassie Peller led the Golden Eagle women with a 14th-place finish, covering the 6,000-meter course in 21:43.08. On the men's side, junior Scott Mueller ran the 10,000-meter course in 31:41.20, finishing 17th. "Looking at the results we gave ourselves at least a chance to make it with the entire women's team," said head coach Dave Uhrich. "Cassie (Peller) and Scott (Mueller) both have chance to make it individually. We ran well in a pretty strong region today and will see what happens with the selections tomorrow." The Golden Eagle women scored 155 points, 92 behind team champion Michigan State. Following Peller across the finish line, in perhaps her final cross country race for Marquette, was senior Michaela Courtney in 31st place (22:10.13). Concluding MU's top-five runners were freshman Jayne Grebinski, finishing in 33rd place (22:15.45), freshman Nicole Burr in 38th place (22:19.20) and freshman Anna Weber in 39th place (22:19.43). Also competing for the Golden Eagles were juniors Kaitlyn Chambers, finishing in 58th place (22:42.50), and Nina Hoppenjan, crossing the line in 75th place (23:01.37).
"This was our best race of year," said Uhrich of the women's results. This was one of our top finishes at regionals in the last six years. It was a great race for us. Our at-large resume isn't as good as last year, but we still have a chance to make it. The entire team ran really well, especially the three freshmen that finished in top 40. We did everything we could. We are still holding out hope." With two teams already qualified for the NCAA Championship from the regional (Michigan State and Wisconsin), Peller would need Michigan, Butler and Notre Dame to also qualify as extra teams tomorrow to be awarded an individual spot in the meet. The top-four individuals from each regional who were not part of a qualify team also make the meet. Sophomore Nicole Edwards of Michigan won the individual crown in 20:20.91. The Marquette men finished with 315 points, 263 off the pace set by team champion Wisconsin, who scored 52 points. Senior Brent Des Roches finished second for the Golden Eagles and 43rd overall in a time of 32:19.30. Sophomore Kyle Saginus (73rd, 32:56.27), senior Jeremy Williams (89th, 33:18.89) and sophomore Drew Craig (93rd, 33:24.73) wrapped-up the team's top five. Senior Tommy Schmitz also competed for MU, finishing in 128th place (34:15.76). "Our goal was a top-10 finish and to miss that by one point against a conference rival (Cincinnati), it was tough," said Uhrich of the men's finish. "We finished so much better than last year and we beat some really good teams." Corey Nowitzke of Eastern Michigan won the individual crown in 30:57.94. The women and men will now await the NCAA Championship Meet selection announcement, which takes place at 7 p.m. ET, Sunday. |
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