Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville Early Bird (Women 4K, Men 6K)
Six Salukis finish in top 20 at Evansville Early Bird
09/03/2005 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2005
Women's Evansville Early Bird Results
Men's Evansville Early Bird Results
By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Cherylynn Schiiling and Kyle Monroe led the way for the Southern Illinois University Cross Country teams at the Evansville Early Bird Invitational, both finishing in the top 10 in their respective events. Because the Salukis only ran four runners in each race, the Salukis did not score as a team.
The women ran a 4K while the men competed in a 6K on the UE Cross Country Course, site of the 2005 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
SIU Cross Country coach Matt Sparks treated the event as a preseason event and said that he is satisfied with the teams' overall performance.
"It was an average performance. Some ran well that we did not expect to and some did not run as well as we would have liked," said Sparks. "I'm satisfied for this time of year but we still have a lot of work to do."
The Dawgs competed with some key runners missing on both teams. The women were without Brittani Christensen, Jessica Ordway and Lindsay Wagner due to injuries. Jason Brosseau sat out for the men's team, nursing an ankle injury.
Joe Byrne and Sarah Rinker also sat out of the race for SIU. Both are healthy and in good shape, but Sparks opted to let them use the event as a workout.
The women's 4K race consisted of 42 runners. Schilling finished fifth with a time of 15:30, followed by Katie Birn at 12th with a time of 16:06.
Ty-Nica Davis and Shelby Brice finished 18th and 19th, respectively. Davis posted a time of 16:31 while Brice came in at 16:38.
"Cherylynn Schilling ran very well and was right up there with some of the top girls in the conference," said Sparks. "I did not expect a lot out of Ty-Nica Davis because she is primarily a track runner, but she came out and beat some people as well."
For the men, Monroe set the pace for the Salukis in the 6K race, finishing eighth out of 39 runners with a time of 18:54. Rob Duncan finished three spots behind Monroe (11th) with a time of 19:08.
Brad Pirok finished 21st with a time of 19:43 while Mark Bowman finished 28th, posting a 20:16 time.
"Kyle Monroe has struggled a little bit in practice the past couple weeks, but he really stepped up for us today," said Sparks. "I think this was an eye-opening experience for our freshman; I hope they can take it and improve from here."
Following the event, Sparks is optimistic that the team will improve, especially with runners coming off of injuries, and is looking toward the future.
"We held out quite a few today that need to get healthy," said Sparks. "We hope to be close to full strength by EIU."
The Salukis return to action Sept. 17 at the Eastern Illinois Panther Open. The event will have a 9:45 a.m. start on EIU's Panther Trail.
