Women's Cross Country Team Looking Ahead To Regionals

Nov. 3, 2004

MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan University women's cross country team is focusing on the regional meet on Nov. 13.

The Chippewas are coming off of a 12th-place finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships in Toledo last Saturday.

Leading the way for CMU was Teresa Bongiovanni who finished the 5k event in 33rd place with a time of 19:14.80. Also finishing for the Chippewas were Sara Prout in 59th (19:53.40), Melissa Quisenberry 71st (20:22.70), Elizabeth Carpenter 72nd (20:25.55), Lauren Fairbanks 80th (20:36.10), Lisa Krueger 82nd (20:46.20), Ashley Anderson 88th (21:03.60) and Amanda Lyon in 89th with a time of 21:0.95.

Kent State won the meet with 84 points. Ball State was second (86 points) followed by Akron (106), Buffalo (109), Toledo (124), Miami (134), BGSU (140), Western Michigan (157), Northern Illinois (201), Ohio (255), Eastern Michigan (296), Central Michigan (303) and Marshall (430).

The individual champion was Jenny Koeppel of Buffalo who finished the 5k in 17:51.70.

COACH Karen Lutzke ON THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP:

"We are obviously looking ahead to regionals now. The MAC is done and over with. We went over the meet and realized what we need to work on and that is what we are going to be doing for the next week and a half.

"For regionals we are looking to be more competitive and beat some of the teams that were at the MAC. The MAC meet wasn't the best for us, we are capable of much more. We want to go into regionals and run the kind of race I know we can and finish the season on a high note."

WHAT'S NEXT: This weekend the Chippewas are idle, preparing for the Great Lakes Regional Championships in Ypsilanti on Nov. 13. The outcome of the meet will determine if they compete in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

ROOKIES:

Only two of CMU's eight runners had previous experience in the MAC meet. Teresa Bongiovanni and Melissa Quisenberry. Bongiovanni competed in 2002 and 2003 and Quisenberry competed in 2003. This was the first MAC Championship for Sara Prout, Elizabeth Carpenter, Lauren Fairbanks, Lisa Krueger, Ashley Anderson and Amanda Lyon.

RESULTS:

Name Time/Place Year/Hometown

Teresa Bongiovanni 19:14.80/33rd Jr./Washington

Sara Prout 19:53.40/59th Fr./Mt. Pleasant

Melissa Quisenberry 20:22.70/71st So./Middleville

Elizabeth Carpenter 20:25.55/72nd Fr./Whitehall

Lauren Fairbanks 20:36.10/80th Fr./Rodgers City

Lisa Krueger 20:46.20/82nd Fr./Rockford

Ashley Anderson 21:0.60/88th So./Rochester Hills

Amanda Lyon 21:03.95/89th So./Copemish