Nov. 12, 2008

By: David Fitzgerald, Sports Information Assistant

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Redhawks men's and women's cross country teams travel to Stillwater, Okla., this weekend to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional. The women's starting time will be 11 a.m. on Saturday the 15th while the men will begin at 11:45 a.m.

Both the men's and women's teams are coming off strong showings at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships. The men's performance helped them to maintain their 11th place ranking in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Currently Oklahoma State is ranked no. 1 in the Midwest Region (no. 2 nationally), followed by Minnesota, Tulsa, and Iowa State. The women's Midwest Regional rankings have Minnesota in first followed by Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

Conference rivals Eastern Illinois will be the only other team representing the OVC at the Midwest Championship. The Redhawks will also be facing regional rivals Missouri, Saint Louis, Missouri State and Southern Illinois. The men's team from Oklahoma State and Minnesota's women's team will both be looking to follow up on their championship from last year. The Redhawks however are looking to spoil their chances of a repeat.

Leading the men will be Brandon Karcher who placed fourth at the OVC Championship with a time of 25:40.6 and received first team All-OVC honors. Along with Karcher, Nate Shipley, who earned freshman of the year honors with his performance, and Dustin Davis will represent the Redhawks after placing 12th (26:22.6) and 13th (26:28.4) respectively. Both Shipley and Davis received Second Team All-OVC honors. Jason Lumpkin just missed out on Second Team honors finishing in 15th with a time of 26:37.7.

The women will be led by senior Juli Koenegstein who finished second this year with a time of 18:37.9 and earned her first team All-OVC honors. She will be joined by sophomore Monica Noble who placed 9th in a time of 19:15.2 and junior Linnea Woldtvedt who finished 14th (19:31.3). Liz Speicher finished right behind Woldtvedt in 15th place with a time of 19:41 narrowly missing Second Team All-OVC honors, but did clock the second fastest time at the Championships for a freshman. Noble and Woldtvedt both received Second Team All-OVC honors for their performances at the Championship.

The results from the event will be available online at www.gosoutheast.com following the event.