Sept. 7, 2007

PEORIA, Ill. - Led by a fifth-place finish from Meghan Ginter, the Northern Illinois women's cross country team finished fifth of 17 competitors at the Bradley Invitational, Friday.

"At this time of the year, and considering we had two of our top runners injured, it was a very good opener," head coach Mark McConeghey said.

Ginter (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) completed the 5,000 meter course in 18:53.

"For the first meet, she did well," McConeghey said of his top-finisher. "Though she went out a little fast, and she knows that."

Freshman Sunsea Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) was the second Huskie finisher, clocking-in at 19:39, good for 16th. Northern Illinois' Denisse Valladares (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Arlington Heights Hershey) placed 27th with a time of 19:54.

"Overall, it was a very good opener," McConeghey said. "They performed much better than last year. There has been a lot of improvement."

The Huskies' top-five finish was behind meet winner Northern Iowa, who was followed by Indiana State, Western Illinois and Bradley.

Northern Illinois will continue competition at the Illinois Intercollegiate in Bloomington, Ill., Sept. 14.

"Next week will be tougher, with all the in-state schools competing," McConeghey said. "We're going to do our best over the next six days to be ready."