Faster, stronger and better athletes than Marquette would have faced two years ago aimed to run the team off the course at Friday's Big East Championships. Just two seasons ago, the Golden Eagles were the intimidators in Conference USA. Such is no longer the case.

This is the life cross country coach Dave Uhrich anticipated before Marquette's move to the Big East in 2005. Not that fiercer competition is a bad thing. It is just frustrating, and even demoralizing at times.

"With the men the most frustrating part is that we are so much better than we were last year," Uhrich said. "But we still finished in the same place so not only did we get better, but so did the competition."

This year, Marquette's men finished eighth and its women placed fifth at the championships in Boston. Junior Cassie Peller placed 13th of 131 runners on the women's side. An eternal optimist, she refused to concede that her season's greatest goal was lost.

In reality, though, Marquette's chances of earning a seventh straight NCAA Championship invitation are slim at best.

"We're not necessarily out of it yet," Peller said. "If we can beat some teams out at the regionals we might have a chance. But still -it's going to be tougher" than in previous years.

The women felt they ran a strong race overall. If two or three women had run a few seconds quicker, Marquette may have finished third or fourth. Such is the nature of cross country, though.

The men's team did not suffer such pains, because it knew a top-three finish was outside its capability. To put things in perspective, consider that all five women's finishers were among the meet's fastest 4 runners. For the men, however, only three placed 59th or better.

Senior Brent Des Roches and junior Scott Mueller finished 20th and 25th, respectively. The pair has led Marquette to respectable team outings all year. But the Golden Eagles have not received enough help from a fifth runner. Threatening teams possess five dangerous runners; the men have had two.

"To finish eighth was disappointing," Des Roches said. "We were aiming for a sixth-place finish. But it hurts not having a strong fifth runner."

"It's been a struggle," he added.

Both Des Roches and Peller may garner individual consideration in qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 20. The two captains have been the backbones of their respective teams.

"They've really gotten better as the year has gone on," Uhrich said. "They've both got a lot of experience and they're extremely hard workers. It helps that they both have teammates right behind them. Scott is there for Brent and Michaela (Courtney) is there behind Cassie."

Marquette will prepare for what will likely be its final 2006 team meet Nov. 11 at the Great Lakes Regional in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Marquette's Top Five Finishers

(Women 6K)

13. Cassie Peller

21:28

21. Michaela Courtney

21:44

25. Jayne Grebinski

21:48

36. Nicole Burr

22:12

41. Kaitlyn Chambers

22:21

(Men 8K)

20. Brent Des Roches

24:19

25. Scott Mueller

24:24

58. Kyle Saginus

25:09

60. Jeremy Williams

25:19

69. Josh Pinter

25:24