Women's Cross Country Will Challenge For MVC Title
10/30/2003 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2003
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The women's cross country squad's successful season all comes down to this weekend and one meet as SIU heads to the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
"There's always a chance we could win," head coach Matt Sparks said. "A lot of things will have to happen by other teams for us to win. We're really just focusing on ourselves. How other teams race is up to them, all we can dictate how we perform."
The Salukis, picked to finish fourth in the pre-championship coaches poll, have only brought home one cross country title back in 1992. SIU's group of young runners this season hope they can add to that total by staying with their consistent running.
"We've been consistently average from an individual perspective. We really haven't had an individual step up and be a front runner for us," Sparks says. "That's what we're going to need if we want to place in the top two on Saturday. Throughout the season, we've had various front-runners, so it could be any one of five people running in the top ten for us."
Senior Noa Beitler, and freshmen Lindsay Wagner and Brittani Christensen have helped the Salukis snag five top three finishes this season. Fellow freshmen Sarah Rinker and Cherylynn Shilling have often been near the front of the pack also.
"I think we can get in the top two (at conference) if everyone runs their best," freshman Sarah Rinker said. "I think youth can help us because we don't know anything but what Coach (Sparks) tells us. If he says us we're going to get top two, we just say, 'Okay, I'll do that.'"
The MVC Championship women's race is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. It will be held at the Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny, Iowa. All results can be found on SIU's official athletic web site at www.SIUSalukis.com, or the host school's web site at www.drakebulldogs.org.
