Nov. 12, 2005
Individual Results
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Team Results
Download Free Acrobat Reader
IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa women’s cross country team finished sixth at 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship held at Ashton Cross Country Course earlier today. The No. 16 Oklahoma State women took first with four finishers in the top 20 and a team score of 71 points and. No. 11 Minnesota and No. 6 Illinois both finished with 90 team points, but Minnesota won the tiebreaker by having a better overall time. Oklahoma State and Minnesota both receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Iowa finished with a team score of 182 points and a time of 1:51:10.
Senior Desiraye Osburn of Wichita State took first for the women individually with a time of 20:43. She broke away from field and finished nine seconds ahead of Minnesota’s Ladia Alberston-Junk. “I knew there was going to be some pretty good competition, I knew that they were going to push me so I was just going to go off of them and try to kick at the end,” Osburn said. “The last 2,000 meters is where I became pretty confident that I could win this.”
Sophomores Meghan Armstrong (9th, 21:09) and Racheal Marchand (18th, 21:38) led Iowa and both were named to the All-Regional Team. Nikki Chapple (35th, 22:21), Shannon Stanley (51st, 22:46) and Molly Esche (69th, 23:16) rounded out the Iowa top 5. Jessica Schmidt (72nd, 23:22) and Allison Billhardt (124th, 24:44) also competed for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa did not receive an automatic bid and will be under review for the NCAA Championships will be held November 21 in Terre Haute, IN. Eighteen teams have already automatically qualified and 13 teams will be selected for at-large bids Sunday. However, if they do not qualify, Meghan Armstrong and Racheal Marchand would both receive invites to compete as individuals for placing in the top 25 in their region.
Team Results (Top Ten)1. Oklahoma State 71T2. Minnesota* 90T2. Illinois 904. Wichita State 1255. Nebraska 1426. IOWA 182
Individual Results (Top Three + Iowa)1. Desiraye Osburn (Whichita State) 20:432. Ladia Albertson-Junk (Minnesota) 20:523. Emily Brown (Minnesota) 20:559. Meghan Armstrong (Iowa) 21:0918. Racheal Marchand (Iowa) 21:3835. Nikki Chapple (Iowa) 22:2151. Shannon Stanley (Iowa) 22:4669. Molly Esche (Iowa) 23:1672. Jessica Schmidt (Iowa) 23:22124. Allison Billhardt (Iowa) 24:44="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="http:>