Sept. 29, 2007

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Freshman Sunsea Shaw was Northern Illinois cross country's top finisher for the first time, Saturday, as she clocked-in with a time of 23:58 at the Roy Griak Invitational.

Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) placed 111th out of 257 competitors in her first six kilometer race. As a team, the Huskies placed 24th of 26 teams, and head cross country coach Mark McConeghey saw several positives in the race.

"The competition was very tough," McConeghey said. "Yet, we beat Bradley, which was a team who defeated us in our first meet of the year, so we're showing improvement."

Behind Shaw, junior Meghan Ginter (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) finished at 24:20, good for 130th. McConeghey complimented the performances of Northern Illinois' third and fourth-place finishers.

Junior Denisse Valladares (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights Hershey) and senior Stacey Rosch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) finished with times of 24:38 and 24:45, respectively.

"That 47-second difference between our top runner and our fourth-place finisher exemplifies the improvement we're making," McConeghey said.

The second-year coach also complimented the improvement of Mia Supanich-Winter (Libertyville, Ill./Marquette), who completed the race in 25:42 while recovering from a foot injury.

Race host Minnesota won the race, with all five runners finishing in the top-30. Virginia senior Emily Harrison won the event with a time of 20:52.

The Huskies continue competition Oct. 12 at the George Dales Invitational in Kalamazoo, Mich.