Saturday, October 15, 2005

Behind top-six finishes from Laura Rolf (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran Northwest H.S.) and Rachael Button (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington H.S.), Valparaiso earned a runner-up finish at the Evansville Invitational on Saturday.

The Crusaders finished with 54 points, trailing just Alabama-Birmingham which had 27 points. Lipscomb was third with 88 points.

Rolf finished the five-kilometer course in a time of 17:52.31, the third fastest time in school history, to finish second. She was 29 seconds off of the pace. Button finished sixth with a time of 18:30.54.

Jobeth Schmiesing (Mankato, Minn./West H.S.) was third for the Crusaders and 11th overall with a time of 18:41.39, while Danielle Nunnelly (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) finished two spots behind her with a time of 18:49.30.

Ashley Billstrom (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall H.S.) rounded out Valpo's scorer with her time of 19:42.81, placing 25th.

Valparaiso will take next weekend off before hosting the Mid-Continent Conference Championships on October 29. The women's race begins at 11 a.m. at Sunset Hills Farm.