Easy course proves difficult at meet
Tracy Hamilton

Staff Writer

The women s cross country team traveled to the University of Missouri-Rolla for the Miner s Invitational and improved once again on its season by finishing second out of 13 teams.

The team raced a 5 kilometer, which is the distance the women will be running for the conference championship meet. The overall team scored 63 points, trailing Truman State University by a mere 10 points. Individual performances for the competition included second place Ashley Caffey, 19:04; Jen Noelken, 19:37; Rachel Patterson, 20:07; Johanna Kanala, 20:26; Emily Cassin, 20:31; and Jessica Deatrick, 21:11.

Three athletes, Erin Click, Mary Garrett and Megan Russell, were unable to compete in the meet due to injuries, but Patty Vavra, head coach, does not seem too worried about the team s performance.

 This team is closely enough matched that someone else can step up and take their place,  Vavra said.

The course seemed to be not as difficult compared to other courses in the conference, but it is deceiving for the runners.

 The course looks easy, but the times were not as great,  Vavra said.

Although the women had a good overall finish, they still know they can advance even further. The runners also know they want to do better and advance as a team. They are not satisfied with a second place finish and plan to continue to achieve more as an overall team.

 We did really well this weekend, and there is always room for improvement,  Noelken said.  We are happy with our times, but not completely content. 

The team s goal of a one minute or less pack time continues to improve, and it hopes to be able to clinch it by the next meet. The team is going to cut its mileage from an average of 50 miles per week to 40 miles per week, giving the runners an opportunity to still train hard, but with less stress.

The team has faced tough competition for the past three meets, helping it to do well within the conference. Competing against all of the teams in the conference and finishing second demonstrates the women s team is slowly creeping its way to the top of the conference and a shot to advance to the regional competition.

The team will not compete on Saturday, but will be back in full stride for the Missouri Border States Invitational Saturday, Oct. 12 at Southern Illinois University-Ewardsville.