Sept. 27, 2008

Complete Results in PDF Format

ST. PAUL - Sophomore Sunsea Shaw took first among Northern Illinois runners at the Roy Griak Invitational, Saturday.

Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) ran the six-kilometer race in 24:02, finishing 116th out of 222 runners. She was followed by senior Meghan Ginter (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) in 134th with a time of 24:38.

The top five Huskies finished within just over a minute of one another, which NIU distance coach Mark McConeghey was satisfied with.

"It was a great improvement as far as running together," he said. "We had four people together in a pack at four kilometers."

Sophomore Breanna Brevitt (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) ran the 6k in 24:46, just ahead of seniors Ashley Rittenbacher (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) and Denisse Valladares (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Hersey), who clocked in at 24:57 and 25:05, respectively.

Brevitt placed 137th, while Rittenbacher took 143rd and Valladares finished in 144th place.

As a team, the Huskies finished 23rd. Minnesota, the host of the race, finished first with five runners in the top 11. Arizona State's Kari Hardt won the race with a time of 21:18.

"The times still aren't quite as good as they were last year, but we're running as a pack now, and that's the way we're going to have to do it with no people way up front," McConeghey said.