Sept. 30, 2006

Lakefront Invitational Men's Team Results

Lakefront Invitational Men's Individual Results

Lakefront Invitational Women's Team Results

Lakefront Invitational Women's Individual Results
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By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com

CHICAGO - After a week break, the Southern Illinois University cross country teams returned to action Saturday at the 34th Annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational, taking second in both the men's and women's divisions.

Sponsored by Nike and Fleet Feet and hosted by Loyola University-Chicago, the event featured 69 colleges, 52 high schools and 16 elementary schools in 10 different races, making it one of the largest cross country meets in the nation.

Sophomore Mohamed Mohamed led the Salukis in the men's 8K, finished second with a career-best time of 24:35.

Junior Brittani Christensen and senior Sarah Rinker teamed up to lead the Salukis in the women's 5K as Christensen finished 15th with a time of 18:33, followed by Rinker at 16th with a time of 18:36.

Overall, head coach Matt Sparks was pleased with his team's performance.

"To finish second in a meet of this magnitude is a huge confidence booster heading into the Missouri Valley Conference meet in a few weeks," said Sparks.

The men's team finished second out of 18 teams in the race and had three runners finish individually in the top 30.

"On the men's side we had some great individual performances and it was great to see how our younger guys came through for us," said Sparks.

Following Mohamed was freshman Jeff Schirmer in 13th with a time of 25:17. He was followed by junior transfer Kevin Doran at 28th with a time of 25:44.

Freshman Jason Ordway and sophomore Brad Pirok rounded out scoring for SIU. Ordway came in 39th with a time of 26:02, followed by Pirok at 53rd with a time of 26:23.

Also competing for SIU's men's team were Kyle Monroe (56th, 26:29), Mark Bowman (65th, 26:35), Tyler Bradford (69th, 26:44), Greg McBride (91st, 27:10) and Jason Brosseau (100th, 27:21).

Grand Valley State won the team championship with 42 points and were led by individual champion Nate Peck.

The women's team finished with four runners in the top 30 to also finish second behind Grand Valley State. Grand Valley's Laura Aderman won the individual championship with a time of 16:52.

"We beat a couple big conference teams today like Northwestern and Alabama and it was good to see the upperclassmen come through for us."" said Sparks.

Coming in behind Christensen and Rinker was Cherylynn Schilling at 20th with a time of 18:42. She was followed by Katie Birn, coming in 30th with a time of 18:49.

Rounding out scoring for the women was A'Seret Dokubo at 47th with a time of 19:11.

Also competing for SIU were Lindsay Wagner (52nd, 19:15) and Nefeteri Williams (102nd, 20:12).

The Salukis are set to return to action Saturday, Oct. 7 with the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Ill. The women are scheduled to run a 5K beginning at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 8K at 10:45 a.m.

TEAM LEADERBOARD
34th Annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational
Women
1 - Grand Valley State University (38 pts.)
2 - Southern Illinois University (115 pts.)
3 - Loyola University-Chicago (135 pts.)
4 - Malone University (145 pts.)
5 - Northwestern University (163 pts.)
6 - Southwest Baptist University (193 pts.)
7 - Illinois State University (222 pts.)
8 - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (227 pts.)
9 - University of Alabama (230 pts.)
10 - Edinboro University (232 pts.)
11 - University of Western Ontario (248 pts.)
T12 - University of Illinois-Chciago (312 pts.)
T12 - University of Chicago (312 pts.)
14 - Creighton University (334 pts.)
T15 - Western Illinois University (400 pts.)
T15 - Marshall University (400 pts.)
17 - Northwestern University "B Team" (528 pts.)
18 - Northwestern University "C Team" (552 pts.)
19 - Chicago State University (620 pts.)

Men
1 - Grand Valley State University (42 pts.)
2 - Southern Illinois University (128 pts.)
3 - Southwest Baptist University (143 pts.)
4 - University of Illinois-Chicago (144 pts.)
5 - Loyola University-Chicago (150 pts.)
6 - Malone University (151 pts.)
7 - University of Western Ontario (153 pts.)
8 - Edinboro University (179 pts.)
9 - Saginaw Valley State University (193 pts.)
10 - University of Chicago (231 pts.)
11 - Illinois State University (258 pts.)
12 - Marshall University (331 pts.)
13 - Western Illinois University (355 pts.)
14 - Carthage University (371 pts.)
15 - Creighton University (397 pts.)
16 - University of Wisconsin-Parkside (429 pts.)
17 - St. Xavier University (468 pts.)
18 - Lawrence University (581 pts.)