There is little question of where leadership will come from for the UNI women's cross country team. The Panthers welcome back a pair of All-Missouri Valley Conference athletes in senior Traci Hawley (Ames, Iowa/Ames) and junior Caedryn Schrunk (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake), and both will be expected to help UNI improve upon its fourth-place finish at the 2006 MVC Championships.

Hawley placed third at the MVC Championships by running the third-fastest 5K time in UNI history, a clocking of 17:50.71. Schrunk was eighth at the conference meet, running a personal-best 18:13.40. Both return to headline a group of six returners for the Panthers, who have just two newcomers on their 2007 roster.

Hawley and Schrunk were the top two finishers for UNI in five of the Panthers' six meets last season.

Head coach Chris Bucknam also welcomes back sophomore Andrea Wacker (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy), who placed 30th at the MVC Championships and then posted a 79th-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

UNI placed 13th as a team at the regional meet, and junior Amanda Huling (Hampton, Iowa/Hampton-Dumont) is the Panthers' other returning competitor from that event, in which she placed 130th.

Also back for UNI are junior Whitney Johnson (Adel, Iowa/ADM) and sophomore Jessa Schweitzer.

New to the Panther lineup is sophomore Samantha Nygren (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls), who joins the Panthers after two years away from cross country. Nygren had an outstanding prep career, including two district championships and a third-place finish in Class 4A at the Iowa state championships in 2004.

Regina Reinig (Spirit Lake, Iowa/Spirit Lake) enters her first season with the Panthers coming off a high school career that saw her win a state championship and finish second three times at the Iowa state track and field meet.

Much like their female counterparts, the Panther men return a clear leader for the 2007 season with their sights set on moving up in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

A group composed of six returners and five newcomers, the UNI men will turn to sophomore Dorian Ulrey (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) to lead the charge following a freshman season that saw Ulrey emerge as the future of distance running at UNI.

Ulrey, who was the Panthers' top finisher in all six meets last season, capped his initial campaign for Bucknam's squad with a runner-up finish at the MVC Championships and a 31st-place showing at the NCAA Midwest Championships. He followed that with a strong winter and spring on the track as UNI's top runner in nearly every distance event, breaking the school record in the 1,500 meters and qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships to go along with new UNI indoor records in the mile and 1,000 meters.

Also back is senior Chris Lawson (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny), who finished third among the UNI runners in five of the Panthers' six events a year ago, as well as seniors Mike Clancy (Iowa City, Iowa/West), Chris Cooper (Dayton, Iowa/Southeast Webster) and Andy Schon (Waukon, Iowa/Waukon) and junior Nick Sorbe (Storm Lake, Iowa/Storm Lake).

Bucknam welcomes five newcomers, including sophomore Tim Fulton (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah), who will begin his third season with the UNI track and field program. Also joining the Panthers are four freshman, Corbin Miller (Marshalltown, Iowa/Marshalltown), Jason Mitchell (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls), Kevin Morgan (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) and Nathan Nissen (Marion, Iowa/Marion).

The Panther women received 80 points in the MVC's preseason coaches poll, placing them behind preseason favorite and defending MVC champion Wichita State, which earned 99 points and nine of the possible 10 first-place votes, as well as second-place Missouri State. The Bears tallied 90 points and received the remaining first-place vote.

The UNI men's squad was tabbed to finish sixth and garnered 39 points in the preseason poll, which named Southern Illinois (77 points) the league's preseason favorite.

The latest information on the UNI cross country program and all 18 Panther teams can be found at the official Web site of UNI Athletics, www.UNIPanthers.com. Along with live streaming audio and video, fans and media can access updated schedules, results, news, statistics and profiles of student-athletes at the site, which is updated daily by UNI Athletics Media Relations.

Each Monday, UNI's in-season coaches will speak at noon in the back room of Pepper's Grill and Sports Pub, located on 18th Street in Cedar Falls. The public and media are invited to attend and hear what the coaches have to say about their teams.