Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Cross country set to compete at NCAA Midwest Regional
11/12/2009 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2009
By Megan Kramper
www.SIUSalukis.com
Carbondale, Ill. - The Southern Illinois cross country team will travel to Springfield, Mo. to participate in the 2009 NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Championships hosted by Missouri State on Saturday.
The Salukis are coming off a second place finish for the men and sixth for the women at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 31 and come into the meet ranked in the region with the men at No. 6 and women at No. 15.
The men will kick off the meet at 12 p.m. with the 10K race while the women follow at 1:15 p.m. with a 6K race.
Overall, 33 schools from 10 conferences from around the Midwest will compete in the meet including the Atlantic10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference-USA, Horizon League, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, and Summit League, and one D-I Independent.
Jeff Schirmer and Mohamed Mohamed look to lead the Saluki men's squad as both have qualified for nationals with Schirmer's most recent performance last season when he finished 24th overall and earned him an All-American status.
"By all indications, we are truly on the bubble for an at-large birth to the NCAA Championships and we need to finish in the Top 4 or 5 on Saturday to better our resume," Head coach Matt Sparks said.
The women are coming off a sixth place finish in the MVC and Sparks is looking to see an improvement from that performance.
"The women's team had a disappointing day at the MVC Championship and they still have a lot to prove to themselves," Sparks said. "I would like to see them improve upon their regional ranking."
Megan Hoelscher leads the Saluki women as she comes off a 16th place finish at the MVC Championships.
The top two teams will automatically qualify for the national meet, which is held in Terre Haute, Ind., as well as the four top individual qualifiers that are not from either of the winning teams.
If the Salukis do not finish in the top two, they will wait to see if they earn one of the 13 at-large bids, which the NCAA will announce on Nov. 16.
For the first time, fans wanting to receive live text updates on individual runners can sign up for the free service at the following website: http://www.flashresults.com/2010_Meets/xc/NCAAMWRegion/Alerts/smstracker_add.php.
For more information on the Midwest Regional, please visit the link located in the Dawg House.
Players Mentioned
