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Northern Illinois cross country runs away with victory at Benedictine Invitational

LISLE, IL - Whenever you are building a program, any sort of confidence can go a long way. Third-year Northern Illinois University cross country coach Shantel Twiggs hopes that her team will build off its successful trip to the Benedictine Universit




October 12, 2002

WOMEN'S COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY - Northern University at Benedictine Eagle Invitational / at Lisle, IL / Community Park / Non-Conference Meet / Friday / October 11, 2002.

Team Scores:
1) Northern Illinois 41
2) Wheaton 79
3) University of Chicago 104
4) Olivet Nazarene 148
5) Saint Joseph's 152
6) North Central 168
7) Dubuque 223
8) Saint Xavier 228
9) Millikin 235
10) Saint Mary's 303
11) Benedictine 311
12) Clarke 334
13) Saint Francis 336
14) Marian 337
15) Concordia 397
16) Chicago State 423
17) IL Institute of Technology 425

Huskie Placewinners:
2) Laura Dunn, 22:32.3; 5) Michelle Rhoden, 22:50.9; 7) Renee Kleckner, 22:58.5; 13) Christina Nieto, 23:19.3; 14) Alicja Czajaka, 23:22.9

Other Huskies Finishers:
20) Bonnie Miller, 23:42.7; 37) Kim Brokhof, 24:30.8

Next Huskie Meet: Saturday, October 19 - University of Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational, Kenosha, WI, 1 p.m.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS CROSS COUNTRY RUNS AWAY WITH VICTORY AT BENEDICTINE INVITATIONAL
LISLE, IL - Whenever you are building a program, any sort of confidence can go a long way. Third-year Northern Illinois University cross country coach Shantel Twiggs hopes that her team will build off its successful trip to the Benedictine University Eagle Invitational as the Huskies got a big boost by winning the event on Friday (October 11).

Northern Illinois placed three of its runners in the top ten of the six kilometer event, with all of its placewinners finishing among the 20 best runners. In one of their best team efforts of the year, every Huskie finished in the top 40. Northern Illinois beat local rival Wheaton College by 38 points as three Huskies entered the chute before a single Crusader crossed the line.

"Everyone ran really well," Twiggs said. "This is the fastest six-kilometer race that we've run in a while. The most impressive thing from this meet isn't the times necessarily, but that we were faster at the five-kilometer mark, with one kilometer to go, than we have been in our previous 5K races."

Leading the Northern Illinois contingency was the performance of senior Laura Dunn (McHenry) as she clocked a time of 22:32.3. Dunn crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of Molly Morrison from North Central College for a second-place finish. Right behind Dunn was sophomore Michelle Rhoden (Joliet / West) as she was the fifth runner into the chute with a mark of 22:50.8. Right behind Rhoden in seventh place was senior Renee Kleckner (St. Charles) with a time of 22:58.5.

Northern Illinois' scoring was finished up by a pair of Huskies who crossed the finish line in 13th and 14th place. Freshman Christina Nieto (South Elgin / Elgin) came in with a time of 23:19.3 while her teammate, junior Alicja Czjaka (Swarzdez, Poland / Pozna), was three seconds behind at 23:19.3. Rounding out the Huskie ranks was sophomore Bonnie Miller (Plainfield) with a time of 23:42.7 followed by a 24:30.8 from sophomore Kim Brokhof (Olney).

The Huskies are back in action Friday (October 19) when they travel to Kenosha, WI, for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational.

-Copy by Michael Smoose

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