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Lady
Lions continue preparation for conference title Staff Writer
The
women s cross country team traveled to Edwardsville Oct. 12 and
finished fifth out of 24 teams. Last
week s break proved to be beneficial for the team at the Border States
Championship in Edwardsville, Ill. The women competed in the standard
five-kilometer race and finished well, despite missing three runners -
Mary Garrett, Johanna Kanala and Megan Russell. Ashley Caffey led the
women once again with a 12th place finish and a time of 19:08. Jen
Noelken finished with a time of 19:36. Other notables were Erin Click
19:54, Rachel Patterson 19:56, Emily Cassin 20:19 and Jessica Deatrick
21:26. Throughout
the race, the team stayed together but struggled at the last half-mile
to remain packed. The course challenged the team with a couple of tough
hills and turns, but the team still proved they wanted to do well. It
was a tough course, and the last seven meters was our downfall. But
hopefully we will be able to come together for the conference meet in a
couple of weeks, said Erin Click, freshman biology major. After
the University Missouri-Rolla Invitational, the team set goals for
working on the goal of one minute or less pack time, and they are
creeping toward their mark. The top five runners managed to have a 1:11
pack time, beating their pack time at the last meet. When all the
runners return for the conference meet, the team should be able to be a
threat to the conference title. For the conference meet, many of the
teams competing could take the title, making it an exciting race Oct.
26. The
team wants to focus on conditioning and practice performances
before conference meets. The Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville-Border States Meet was the last actual meet before
conference, helping the team visualize where they are and where they
need to be. We
just want to focus on maintaining our conditioning and leveling off our
performances, said Jamie Burnham, assistant coach. He
said having the other three runners would have definitely helped, but
the team is focused on having a strong performance at the conference
championship, which will be held at Missouri Southern. The team hopes to
do well and have a great showing at home by finishing in the top three
teams in the conference, advancing the team to the regional competition. The team will have tough practices this week and be back in action Oct. 26 for the home conference meet. |