MOREHEAD, Ky. – Claire Brown placed 15th overall in leading the SIUE women's country team to an eighth-place finish at the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Championships at Eagle Trace Golf Course.
Brown ran the 5K course in 18 minutes, 45.01 seconds and was two seconds off earning second team All-OVC honors.
"She was 11th the whole race and four girls passed her in the final 200 meters," said SIUE Head Coach Eileen McAllister. "She raced awesome."
The event was run under less than perfect conditions. Heavy rains in Morehead left the course muddy and sloppy.
Brown said that despite the conditions she ran the race she wanted.
"As soon as I was done, I knew I had given everything I had. I really can't be disappointed in the race," said Brown.
As a team, SIUE placed eighth overall, a one team improvement from last season's ninth-place finish. Eastern Kentucky won the team title with 29 points. Belmont was the runner-up with 71. Eastern Illinois took third with 100 and was followed by Southeast Missouri (104), Murray State (115), Austin Peay (173), Jacksonville State (182), SIUE (196), Morehead State (204), Tennessee Tech (293), UT Martin (322), and Tennessee State (364).
"In places we did well. We moved up a spot from last year. We still have work to do on the women's side," said McAllister.
Kirby Hale and Renee Johns-Goodenough were step by step at the finish of the race and placed 37th and 38th respectively. Hale finished in 19:33.01 with Johns-Goodenough a fraction of a second behind at 19:33.38. Hale and Johns-Goodenough edged a pair of Murray State and Morehead State runners to the finish line by less than a half of a second.
Conradette King bested her OVC time from last season by more than 30 seconds by finishing 52nd in 19:59.19. Haley Briggs placed 64th in 20:30.28, and Emily Conlon was 66th overall in a time of 20:47.72.
The SIUE women now will get ready for the NCAA Regionals to be held Nov. 15 at Iowa State.
