Sept. 12, 2009

Final Stats

DEKALB, Ill. - Freshman Courtney Oldenburg helped lead the Northern Illinois women's cross country team to a fourth-place finish Saturday, after placing eighth at the second annual Huskie Open. The Huskies finished the race in fourth place with a team score of 112 points.

Oldenburg (West Salem, Wis./West Salem) ran the NIU North 40 course in an eighth-place time of 19:27.53, finishing first for the Huskies. Her time in the five-kilometer race helped lead the Huskies to a fourth-place finish, falling behind Northwestern (35), Western Illinois (79) and UW-Milwaukee (89).

The Huskies beat out UW-Green Bay (129), St. Mary's College (134), Judson University (147), Iowa Western CC (197), and Chicago State (293) to claim their fourth-place title.

Sophomore Nancy Nieto (Elgin, Ill./Streamwood/Missouri State) came in second for the Huskies, with a 14th-place time of 20:03.37. Junior Sunsea Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley High School) finished closely behind her teammates with a time of 20:51.76, taking third for the Huskies and 24th overall.

Juniors Breanna Brevitt (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) and Jackie Sciacero (Sterling, Ill./Sterling/Sauk Valley C.C.) also ran well for the Huskies, finishing the race fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Huskies. Brevitt ran the course in a time of 21:19.33, while Sciacero finished the race with a time of 21:56.77.

"The girls didn't run as well as they could have today," assistant coach Mark McConeghey said. "However, we had a time trial here a few weeks ago, and everyone improved quite a bit from their previous times. I think we are moving in the right direction, but we still have to work on closing the gap between our first and fifth-place finishers."

NIU will take competition on the road next weekend as the Huskies travel to Champaign, Ill. for the Illinois Intercollegiate race that is set to begin at 4 p.m., Sept. 18.