Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Bradley Classic (Men 8K)
Cross Country takes first, fourth at Bradley Classic
10/13/2006 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Oct. 13, 2006
By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com
PEORIA, Ill. - In its final meet of the regular season, the Southern Illinois University women's cross country team picked up a win at the Bradley Classic wile the men's team finished fourth.
Despite the fourth-place finish for the men, there was a bright spot as freshman Jeff Schirmer came away with the individual win with a time of 25:12 in the 8K.
The women's team tallied 36 points as it placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 10 to take the win.
Senior Cherylynn Schilling led the Salukis, finishing fourth with a time of 22:24 in the 6K.
Junior Brittani Christensen (22:26) and senior Katie Birn (22:29) followed in sixth and seventh places, respectively.
Senior Sarah Rinker (22:32) came in ninth as freshman Nefeteri Williams rounded out scoring for the Salukis in 10th place (22:40).
"Between our first and fifth runners we had a 16-second gap, pretty much the same as last weekend. We worked a lot this week in running as a pack and improving our pace. It was good to go out and accomplish what we set out to do," said SIU head coach Matt Sparks.
"It was good to see Cherylynn Schilling lead us today. She has been here four years, working very hard over that time and this is the first time that she has led us, so I'm very proud of her."
Also competing for SIU were senior Lindsay Wagner (13th, 22:54) and freshman A'Seret Dokubo (16th, 23:02), placing all seven Saluki runners in the top 20.
The win also gives the women's team a boost as SIU finished ahead of Missouri Valley Conference members Illinois State, Drake and Bradley.
For the men's team, Schirmer becomes the second Saluki in as many weeks to win an individual title.
Coming in behind him was junior Kevin Doran (25:12) in fourth while Mark Bowman (26:28) finished third for SIU, 23rd overall.
Greg McBride (26:47) and Kyle Monroe (26:50) rounded out scoring for the Salukis, coming in 41st and 42nd, respectively.
"It was great to see a freshman step up with a leadership role today, which is something we were looking for with Mohamed Mohamed not running," said Sparks.
"If we are still going to challenge for a conference title, though, we are going to have to improve and have a lot of work to do over the next two weeks."
Also competing for the Salukis were freshmen Tyler Bradford (47th, 26:59) and Jason Ordway (27:04) and sophomore Brad Pirok (111th, 28:42).
Valley foe Drake came away with the team title in the men's 8K, but the Salukis still managed to finish ahead of Illinois State and Bradley.
With the regular season over, the Salukis will be off next week in preparation for the State Farm/MVC Championship on Oct. 28 in Lincoln, Neb.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
Bradley Classic
Women
1 - Southern Illinois University (36 pts.)
2 - University of Windsor (113 pts.)
3 - Illinois State University (123 pts.)
4 - Saint Louis University (124 pts.)
5 - Drake University (146 pts.)
6 - Eastern Illinois University (154 pts.)
7 - University of Illinois-Chicago (179 pts.)
8 - University of Missouri (186 pts.)
9 - Bradley University (196 pts.)
10 - Western Illinois University (256 pts.)
11 - DePaul University (259 pts.)
12 - University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (328 pts.)
13 - Arkansas State University (333 pts.)
Men
1 - Drake University (36 pts.)
2 - University of Windsor (83 pts.)
3 - University of Illinois-Chicago (104 pts.)
4 - Southern Illinois University (111 pts.)
5 - Illinois State University (170 pts.)
6 - Eastern Illinois University (187 pts.)
7 - DePaul University (189 pts.)
8 - University of Missouri (213 pts.)
9 - Bradley University (228 pts.)
10 - Western Illinois University (240 pts.)
11 - Saint Louis University (256 pts.)
12 - University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (291 pts.)
13 - Arkansas State University (351 pts.)
