Sept. 13, 2008

Complete Results

 

 

DeKALB - Led by sophomore Sunsea Shaw, the Northern Illinois cross country team placed fifth at the Huskie Open, Saturday, on a soaked course at the NIU campus.

"For our first home meet in three years, I think the ladies represented Northern Illinois in extreme fashion," head coach Connie Teaberry said.

Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) placed 22nd with a time of 20:51, just ahead of teammates Ashley Rittenbacher (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) and Meghan Ginter (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley), who finished 23rd and 24th, respectively.

Senior Denisse Valladares (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Hersey) crossed the line in 21:07 to take 36th, followed by sophomore Breanna Brevitt (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), who placed fifth among NIU runners and took 45th in 21:55.

The Huskies battled rough conditions, as rain had drenched the five-kilometer course. Soft ground and a downpour throughout the race slowed times. The rain nearly forced the event's cancellation, and created a small pond just ahead of the finish line that racers had to avoid.

"This is really cross country weather," Teaberry said. "Times were slower than you normally see for a race this length because there were puddles along the course that you couldn't see, so the men and women didn't have traction in places."

Teaberry saw the race as an improvement over the Huskies fourth-place finish at the Illini Challenge two weeks ago.

"They performed in rainy weather even better than they performed in dry weather last week," she said.

Wisconsin took first place at the event, with Badger runners taking the top seven and 10 of the first 11 places. Marquette finished second, followed by Milwaukee and Green Bay. Augustana placed sixth.

The Huskies return to action Sept. 19 at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships in Normal.