Saturday, October 04, 2003

Valparaiso's women's cross country team sent eight individuals to the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday afternoon in Chicago, Ill. and came away with a 38th place finish overall.

The Crusaders, which ran those individuals that did not compete at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, ran in a field of 560 runners.

Wisconsin won the meet with 39 points, defeating Nebraska by a point.

Kelly Owens (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands H.S.) led the Brown and Gold with a 210th place finish overall with a time of 20:27. Ashley Billstrom (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall H.S.) was just three seconds behind Owens and placed 217th overall for Valpo.

Kristy Popp (Bowman, N.D./Bowman H.S.) was the third to cross the finish line for the Crusaders, placing 271st overall with a time of 21:05. Michelle Sexton (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Driscoll Catholic H.S.) finished fourth for the team and 316th overall with a time of 21:30. Joanne Borchert (Waukesha, Wis./Wauskesha West H.S.) rounded out the scoring for Valpo with a 371st place finish in a time of 22:01.

Valparaiso will take next weekend off before returning to action on October 18 when the Crusaders will again split their squads. Some runners will go to the Pre-NCAA meet in Cedar Falls, Iowa, while others will run at the Wisconsin-Parkside Open.