The six-hour bus ride from St. Paul, Minn., to Milwaukee seemed longer than it actually was on Saturday.

After a 10th-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational, the women's cross country team rode home with the knowledge that its No. 18 national ranking would disappear on Monday. And it did.

Freshman Jayne Grebinski, who finished 29 seconds better than any of her teammates, showed poise in finishing 23rd of 288 runners.

But her teammates failed to deliver.

Junior captain Cassie Peller was especially displeased with her own performance.

"I would hope the team isn't happy," she said. "I know I didn't run well at all."

Peller added that the team might be feeling ill effects from a long summer of training. Marquette didn't have the energy it expected.

In addition, senior Michaela Courtney is a long way from returning to form, which puts the team in a difficult situation as it waits for its star to regain her strength after a bout with mononucleosis.

"I don't know if she's going to get to where she was last year," head coach Dave Uhrich said.

Uhrich added that Courtney gets a little stronger with each practice. While she may not return to the level she did last year, the team needs Courtney to come close. The positive is that it's a matter of getting into shape as opposed to running with pain. Her health is back, but her stamina is lagging.

The men experienced difficulties on Saturday as well, finishing 17th of 34 teams.

Sophomore Kyle Saginus did not finish where he had hoped due to knee pain. Junior Josh Pinter ran with severe poison ivy and failed to finish among the team's top five. But with three weeks before its next meet, Uhrich believes time will make all the difference for both the men and women.

"Typically we haven't run great at the Griak, so we anticipate that we'll run a lot better at the Pre-NCAA," Uhrich said. "But still (the Griak) helped prepare us for the Pre-NCAA. I think with a full team we'll be fine."

The Pre-National Invitational (Pre-NCAA) is Oct. 14. Uhrich will run his B-squad in Chicago on Saturday because the race won't be evaluated by the NCAA. The next three weeks of practice are crucial: If the teams are not at full strength by Oct. 14, they will have a difficult time qualifying for the NCAA championships.