Oct. 2, 2010

Final Results

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Junior Marc Amarillas turned in his best performance of the season to lead the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish Saturday morning at the Richard Clark Invitational presented by The Greater Springfield Sports Commission.

"The men ran well, but made mental errors with strategy costing them at least one place higher in team standings," said SIUE Head Coach Eileen McAllister. "They went out too fast for the first mile."

Amarillas finished the 8,000-meter race in a time of 26:33 to finish 13th of 51 competing runners. His time was the second fastest in his career for an 8k race.

Close behind Amarillas was sophomore Aaron Werths, who finished 17th with a time of 26:50.

A trio of SIUE runners in junior Shawn Dillard (21st), sophomore Campbell Walters (27th), and sophomore Brad Walwer (31st) all finished within 22 seconds of each other to help push the Cougars to fourth.

The lone freshman for the Cougars, J.D. Wynn, completed the 8k in 47th place in a time of 28:54.

"Overall, the team is improving and making progress," added McAllister. "I think that in today's race the guys were able to see how they stood in their own way with a few mistakes in their racing strategy."

With 107 points in the Richard Clark Invitational, SIUE finished ahead of Wichita State, Western Illinois, and Oral Roberts in the seven-team field, despite being the only team without a runner finish in the top 10.

Texas Tech claimed the team title with 26 points as all five runners placed ninth or higher. TTU's Gilbert Limo finished first individually in a time of 25:02.

"The key will be if they can correct their mistakes at Bradley," said McAllister. "I feel confident they will." SIUE will return to action on Oct. 15 at the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Ill.

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