Oct. 2, 2010

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's cross country team finished the Richard Clark Invitational presented by The Greater Springfield Sports Commission Saturday morning in eighth-place.

At a meet with nine teams and 74 total runners, the Cougars had only two runners break the 20-minute mark as junior Aftan Noon (45th) and freshman Emily Conlon (51st) finished the 5,000-meter race in times of 19:48 and 19:59, respectively.

"The women looked fatigued overall, which I expected because we are now in our heaviest period of training," said SIUE Head Coach Eileen McAllister.

Freshmen Renee Goodenough (56th) and Hannah Lee (59th) both turned in quality performances at the meet with times just 12-seconds apart. "Renee is getting over missing time with an illness and Hannah competed well," added McAllister.

Claire Brown and Megan Petty, another pair of freshmen, completed the course for the Cougars turning in times of 20:50 and 21:45, respectively.

SIUE finished ahead of Western Illinois for the second consecutive week finishing with 224 points while Texas Tech claimed the team title with 23 points. All five runners for TTU finished between second and seventh-place overall.

Ari Fisher of Toldeo claimed the top individual honor completing the 5k course in a time of 16:44.

"The team has been making big strides both physically and mentally since the start of the season," said McAllister.

The Cougars will return to action at the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Ill., on Oct. 15.

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