Women's Cross Country Takes Fifth at Big Sky Championship

Oct. 31, 2009

Big Sky Conference Championship Results

Greeley, Colo. - Much like its male counterpart, the Idaho State women's cross country team finished exactly where it was predicted to in the pre-season poll. The Bengals took fifth place Saturday, at the Big Sky Conference Championship in Greeley, Colo.

Junior Erica Wendt-Richardson had the top performance for Idaho State with a 13th-place finish. Wendt-Richardson finished the 5K trek at the Boomerang Golf Course in a time of 20:23.8.

Sophomore Bradi Hutchison was the second Bengal to complete the course, finishing 17th overall. Hutchison turned in a time of 20:30.7 to defeat Northern Arizona's Eliza Gawryluk (20:32.9). Senior Kerynn Davis, the third Bengal to cross the finish line, followed Hutchison with a 22nd-place finish in a time of 20:49.0.

Rounding out the top five for Idaho State was senior Gemma Maini and freshman Chloe Palakovich. Maini finished 32nd overall with a time of 21:27.1 while Palakovich placed 36th, completing the course in 21 minutes, 33.9 seconds.

"I think we struggled a little bit on both sides," Janssen said. "We came into this season with a lot of optimism, but we just weren't able to put the pieces together. The trip down here didn't go very smoothly either. I think that we are a better team than what our finishes show, but there have been just too many things such as illness and weather, that have plagued us and that are out of our control. For example, Gemma Maini has a dislocated rib and Josh (Wageman) is sick. It's just been one of those things where we were hoping for big things, but every time we turned around there was another obstacle in our way."

Wendt-Richardson, Hutchison, Davis, Maini and Palakovich combined for 120 team points to defeat Montana State (162), Northern Colorado (221), Portland State (227) and Eastern Washington (276). Northern Arizona won the contest with 28 points while Weber State took second with 64. Montana finished third (66) and Sacramento State took fourth with 99 points. Northern Arizona's Veronica Pohl, a senior, won the individual title with a time of 19:04.70.

The Bengals will race again at the NCAA Regional Saturday, Nov. 14, in Albuquerque, N.M.