Oct. 29, 2006

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Mount Mercy College (Iowa) had the top three finishers in the
5K, including Harrier of the Year Mallory Marshall, as the Mustangs won the 2006 Midwest Classic Conference Women's Cross Country championship on Saturday at Crow Creek Park.

Marshall (Center Point, Iowa/Center Point-Urbana H.S.), a freshman, continued a streak of 10 straight years that a Mount Mercy runner has won the conference crown. She is also the third member of her family to be named MCC Harrier of the Year for the Mustangs. Sisters Leslie (1998-99) and Amy (2000-03) Marshall won six consecutive titles from 1998-2003.

Megan Spurgin began Mount Mercy's hold on the MCC individual title in 1997. After Leslie and Amy Marshall's dominance from 1998-2003, juniors Heather Collum (Welton, Iowa/DeWitt Central H.S.)  and Katie Larsen (Manchester, Iowa/West Delaware H.S.) were named Harrier of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Mount Mercy Head Coach Ryan Scheckel picked up his second MCC Women's Coach of the Year award after the Mustangs won the fifth team championship in school history with 22 points. St. Ambrose University (Iowa) was second with 44 points, followed by William Penn University (Iowa) with 79 and Grand View College (Iowa) with 92.