Sept. 10, 2010

CHARLESTON - The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's cross country team turned in its second consecutive fourth-place finish of the season, this time coming at the Eastern Illinois Panther Invite late Friday afternoon.

All the runners for SIUE crossed the finish line in the same order as the opening meet as junior Aftan Noon again led the pack. Noon's time of 18:38.38 was enough for a seventh-place finish and just the second time she has cracked the top ten in her career.

The young freshman for SIUE continue to show improvements as Renee Goodenough finished 16th and Claire Brown placed 21st with times of 19:19.23 and 19:43.26, respectively.

Not far behind Brown was Emily Conlon, who crossed the finish line in a time of 19:47.05 for 23rd.

Hannah Lee (20:20.18) and Megan Petty (21:02.18) also finished the 5,000-meter race for SIUE who finished with 91 points.

"The women competed very well for the second week in a row," Head Coach Eileen McAllister said.  "I feel they have demonstrated a lot of poise for being mostly freshman.  This is attributed to their competitive nature and Aftan's leadership.  They are hungry to compete and to get better."

North Dakota claimed top honors at the meet with 40 points, besting host Eastern Illinois by six points.

The Cougars look to build on their success when they host the SIUE Cross Country Challenge on Friday, Sept. 17.

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