Nov. 10, 2007

Complete NCAA Midwest Regional Results

PEORIA, Ill. - Freshman Sunsea Shaw and senior Stacey Rosch recorded personal bests, as the Northern Illinois women's cross country team finished 22nd at the NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifier.

"They all ran at least a minute better than they did at the Roy Griak Invitational, our last six-kilometer race," head coach Mark McConeghey.

Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) recorded a time of 22:10, good for 84th place. Rosch (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North) finished in 98th with a time of 22:24.

"Sunsea and Stacey really ran out of their heads," McConeghey said. "They both ran their best race ever over six-kilometers, and went through the five-kilometer mark faster than they ever had."

Behind Rosch and Shaw, Denisse Valladares (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Hershey) ran a time of 23:09 and placed 140th, and Meghan Ginter (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) placed 145th with a time of 23:29.

McConeghey expressed positive feelings about the season after the meet.

"Throughout the whole year, they ran better than last year, and if we keep recruiting and keep improving we'll break through," he said. "We're going to take about a month of from running, then we start building our base again getting ready for the indoor (track) season."

The Huskies open the indoor track and field season Dec. 9 at the Redbird Open, hosted by Illinois State.