Oct. 14, 2003

OXFORD, Ohio -

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Miami University's women's cross country team returns to action, Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Pack-It-Up Illini Challenge. The meet is hosted by the University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill.

Scouting The Field: Highlighting the field at the Pack-It-Up Illini Challenge is Bowling Green, Ohio and Northern Illinois. BGSU was the lone Division I school in Ohio not to run at the All-Ohio Championships and is ranked 15th in the region. Ohio was at the All-Ohio, taking 18th, while Miami has not ran against Northern Illinois since last year's MAC Championships.

Also in the field are familiar opponents, Cincinnati and Wright State. The RedHawks competed against both schools at the Flyer Challenge, and saw the Bearcats again at the Queen City Classic. DePaul, Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Indiana State are also at this meet.

Last Time Out: Seniors Andrea Kremer (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and Kristin Wrede (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) paced the RedHawks to a first-place finish at the All-Ohio Championships, taking first and second, respectively. Kremer finished the slow, hilly course in a time of 17:46, 21 seconds ahead of Wrede (18:07). Wrede, in turn, finished 14 seconds ahead of third place. Fellow senior Kylee Studer (Edgerton, Ohio/Edgerton) also finished in the top-ten, placing ninth (18:37), in the 260-person field.

Miami edged Ohio State for the All-Ohio Championship, 58-65. MAC schools Akron (99) and Kent State (118) finished third and fourth, respectively, while Cincinnati (197) rounded out the top-five. The field featured 39 Ohio schools from all levels of intercollegiate athletics. There were 11 other Division I schools in attendence, including four MAC squads (Toledo- 11th, Ohio- 18th).

Automatic: It seems that each time Andrea Kremer runs, the MAC gives her an award. Following each of her four meets this season, Kremer was honored as the MAC's Runner of the Week, while doubling as the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week once. This season, Kremer has finished first at two meets, and second at the other two, while leading Miami each time. A mathematics major, she boasts a 3.73 GPA.

Handicapping The MAC: In the annual MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Miami was selected to finish third at the conference championships in November, mirroring its finish from 2002. The top three picks in the poll mirror last year's MAC Championship finish, with Toledo and Ball State picked to finish first and second, respectively. Akron, Kent State and Central Michigan round out the top six.

The All-Ohio Championships was Miami's second time running against other MAC schools. Ball State, Akron and Buffalo competed at the Miami Invitational, where the Red and White took second, while Akron, Toledo, Ohio and Kent State ran at the All-Ohio's last weekend. With their first-place finish last Friday, the RedHawks are 7-0 against MAC competition this season.