By Brendon Paucek, UWEC Sports Information
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's cross country team finished third at the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Cross Country Championship (Presented by Culver's) at Wisconsin River Golf Club on Saturday.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team title while University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Cheyenne Moore captured the individual title, completing the 6,000-meter course with a time of 21:49.8.
UW-La Crosse compiled 26 points to outdistance the second-place total of 55 points by defending champion UW-Oshkosh. UW-Eau Claire took third with 61 points, while UW-Stout was fourth with 122, UW-River Falls fifth with 150, UW-Platteville sixth with 155, UW-Stevens Point seventh with 175 and UW-Whitewater eighth with 238.
Morgan Marek (So – Muskego, WI/Muskego) led the Blugolds with a fifth place finish, recording a time of 22:04.9 to secure First Team All-WIAC honors.
"I definitely did better than I thought I would do, and it felt really comfortable which makes me excited for regionals," said Marek. "I was able to work with Callie [Fischer] for the first two miles, which really helped."
Callie Fischer (Jr. - Onieda, WI/Ashwaubenon) was ninth, finishing in 22:23.3, earning Second Team Honors, while Samantha Slattery (Fr. - Waunakee, WI/Waunakee, Karen Gomez-Ruiz (So. - Chatfield, MN/Chatfield) and Maggie Louiselle (Fr. - Minneapolis, MN/Totino Grace) took 15th (22:44.3), 17th (22:50.1), and 18th (22:52.5) to earn Honorable Mention status.
Running a break-out race was Josey Rieber (Sr. - Holmen, WI/Holmen), who was the Blugold's sixth runner, finishing 25th in a time of 23:04.
"Everyone knew what she was capable of," said Schwamberger. "It was just nice to see her to put it together and have a nice day."
Moving forward, the Blugold's national team ready to run their best when it counts.
"To qualify for nationals from regionals the team simply needs to stay healthy mentally and physically; we have already put in all the hard work," said Rieber. "Confidence is going to be key racing at regionals in two weeks."
The women's JV squad will compete this Saturday, November 5, at the Gender Equity Invite at UW-Platteville.
