Women’s Cross Country off to the Races

by Kalie Schreiner
Courier Staff

In the eyes of a cross country runner, having a 5K meet on Friday evening is quite rare, but for a Monmouth woman runner any race is fair game. The evening of Sept. 9, at 6:15 to be exact, the Lady Scots zoomed out of their box to race yet another meet, this time at the Bradley Open in Detweiller Park in Peoria , Ill.

The meet included many division one schools such as Eastern Illinois, Northwestern, and Marquette . The women from Marquette University took the team championship.The Lady Scots ended up finishing 8th out of 11 schools participating in the meet.

The times and results for the Lady Scots were freshman Kaile Schreiner, 110th, 21:37; sophomore Val Daves, 113th, 21:43; junior Kila Cox, 120th, 21:57; senior Erin Mann, 128th, 22:29; freshman Alisha Zilch, 132nd, 22:43; junior Carissa Young, 134th, 22:50; junior Joni Nelson, 138th, 23:09; junior Ashley Gaul, 139th, 23:14, and freshman Brittany Story, 144th, 23:30.

In earlier competition the lady harriers traveled to the Western Illinois Open held on Sept. 3 in Macomb at Western Illinois University where they finished a respectable third out of four teams represented at the meet. Illinois State took top honors, followed by Western, Monmouth College , and Illinois College .

The top five finishers for the Lady Scots were freshman Kaile Schreiner, 19th, 16:55; sophomore Val Daves, 21st, 17:03; senior Erin Mann, 23rd, 17:52; junior Joni Nelson, 24th, 18:03; and junior Carissa Young, 25th, 18:08. The Western Open's course was 2.5 miles.

The new freshman runners for the Lady Scots are Brittany Story, Oregon , Ill ; Alisha Zilch, Farmington , Ill ; and Kaile Schreiner, Dixon , Ill.

Following the competition at Western, senior Erin Mann said, “I think we will improve a lot and have a good team pack.” Coach Roger Haynes commented, “(We are) much improved over the first meet a year ago.”

“As a junior and a sprinter I feel more than privileged to be running and training with such a talented close group of girls, said junior Kila Cox.

Last year's women's cross country team finished 8th out of ten in the Midwest Conference Meet. Freshman Tiffany York was 5th in the Midwest Conference meet and was named all conference. The top seven runners ran at the regional meet which was one step before the NCAA National meet and placing 29th over all.

The Lady Scots travel to Grinnell , Iowa this weekend to compete in the Les Duke Invitational on Sept. 17 at Oakland Acres Golf Course.

In the eyes of a cross country runner having a 5K meet on Friday evening is quite rare, but for a Monmouth women runner any race is fair game. The evening of Sept. 9, at 6:15 to be exact, the Lady Scots zoomed out of their box to race yet another meet, this time at the Bradley Open in Detweiller Park in Peoria , Il .

The meet included many division one schools such as Eastern Illinois, Northwestern, and Marquette . The women from Marquette University took the team championship.

The Lady Scots ended up finishing 8th out of 11 schools participating in the meet.

The times and results for the Lady Scots were freshman Kaile Schreiner, 110th, 21:37; sophomore Val Daves, 113th, 21:43; junior Kila Cox, 120th, 21:57; senior Erin Mann, 128th, 22:29; freshman Alisha Zilch, 132nd, 22:43; junior Carissa Young, 134th, 22:50; junior Joni Nelson, 138th, 23:09; junior Ashley Gaul, 139th, 23:14, and freshman Brittany Story, 144th, 23:30.

Now after hearing about the fun evening at Detweiller Park its time to take a step backwards and refresh our memories on the Lady Scots at the Western Illinois Open held on Sept. 3 in Macomb .

The Monmouth College Women's Cross Country Team kicked off the season at the Western Open on Sept. 3 by finishing third out of four teams represented at the meet. Illinois State took top honors, followed by Western Illinois University , Monmouth College , and Illinois State .

The top five finishers for the Lady Scots were freshman Kaile Schreiner, 19th, 16:55; sophomore Val Daves, 21st, 17:03; senior Erin Mann, 23rd, 17:52; junior Joni Nelson, 24th, 18:03; and junior Carissa Young, 25th, 18:08. The Western Open's course was 2.5 miles.

The new freshman runners for the Lady Scots are Brittany Story, Il; Alisha Zilch, Farmington , Il ; and Kaile Schreiner, Dixon , Il .

Following the competition, senior Erin Mann said, “I think we will improve a lot and have a good team pack.” Coach Haynes commented, “(We are) much improved over the first meet a year ago.”

“As a junior and a sprinter I feel more than privileged to be running and training with such a talented close group of girls, said junior Kila Cox.

Last year's women's cross country team finished 8th of ten in the Northwest Conference Meet. Freshman Tiffany York was 5th in the Northwest Conference meet and was named all conference. The top seven runners ran at the regional meet which was one step before the NCAA National Meet.

The Lady Scots travel to Grinnell , Iowa this weekend to compete in the Les Duke Invitational.