Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Cross Country At Panther Open This Weekend
09/17/2003 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Sept. 17, 2003
By Josh Magill
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's cross country team raised the bar two weeks ago and will try to meet those new expectations at the Eastern Illinois Panther Open on Friday.
"I expect them to take it up a notch," says head coach Matt Sparks. "They've got that first meet jitter out of their system now, so they have a better understanding of what's going to happen and what's expected of them."
SIU took third place two weeks ago at the Missouri Challenge and hopes to continue the positive trend. Boasting a team of twelve athletes, including lone senior Noa Beitler and sophomore Ty-Nica Davis, Sparks believes the Salukis have a chance of grabbing their first win of the season.
"From an individual aspect, any one of our top five runners could have a chance to win the meet," said Sparks. "But I expect us to be very competitive with every team there and challenging for the win. It's a flat, fast course, so times will be considerably faster. We'll probably have quite a few girls set personal best times in the 5K."
With Beitler running in her first meet of the year since going to the national track and field meet in June, questions remain as to what this team can really do, and will the fast running senior's presence give the Salukis a boost?
"Yeah, it should be a boost for (the rest of the team)," says Sparks. "But I keep reminding them to keep that same intensity from the first meet they ran without her. I don't want them to back off when she's running."
"This is really our first big week of practice as well," continues Sparks. "We started running workouts that are more intense and getting close to our race pace. We're getting more serious about up-tempo training at this point."
The Panther Open, which starts at 5:15 p.m. on Eastern Illinois' Panther Trail, includes such teams as Bradley, Western Illinois, and host Eastern Illinois. Results can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
