Women's Cross Country At Illini Challenge This Weekend
10/16/2003 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Oct. 16, 2003
By Josh Magill
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The women's cross country team will participate in the Illini Challenge hosted by the University of Illinois this weekend to finish off the regular season. With four top three finishes this season, everyone wants to know how the Salukis are holding up.
"The pressure keeps building for every meet we go into," said freshman runner Brittani Christensen. "Everybody's learning something from every meet, so hopefully in these next two meets we can put everything together that we've learned."
Christensen, who has finished in SIU's top three for every competition this season, has slowly moved into a team captain's role and hopes to push the Salukis to their second win of the year at the Illini Challenge.
"We are all mostly freshmen, so we're still learning a lot," says Christensen. "It's motivational (for me) to get others motivated to work hard. We have all helped each other finish workouts, so for me to have a good practice helps others want to work hard also."
A solid group of freshmen, including Mt. Vernon native Lindsay Wagner, Sarah Rinker and Cherylynn Schilling, will try to use this last meet to prepare for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Nov. 1. Lone senior Noa Beitler looks to continue her success this season also.
The Challenge, scheduled to be held Saturday in Urbana, Ill. The women's five-kilometer race begins as 10:30 a.m. at the UI Aboretum in Urbana, Ill. Results can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
