Claiming its fourth conference championship in as many years, and its sixth championship in the eight years of the conference’s existence.
“Obviously, you pretty much can call it a dynasty right now,” Uhrich said. “Any time you win that many years in a row, that’s pretty impressive,
especially when you’re talking about a 14-school conference. That’s pretty exciting.”
Uhrich was most proud of the gumption showed by his team in dealing with the added pressures of being the team to beat in the conference.
“Any time you start winning that much it really puts the pressure on you, and everybody is out to try and get you, and (Marquette has) handled it very well,” Uhrich said.
The women were led by sophomore runner Jodi Jakubek, who finished third overall with a time of 20:56.30. Jakubek has been the Golden Eagles’ best runner this season, despite missing the first meet of the year at Bradley due to health problems. She has been Marquette’s top finisher in each of the other three meets the team has run in this season, and was named to the first team All-Conference.
Jakubek had to battle to stay in third place, following at the heels of the two TCU runners ahead of her — Mary Kinyanjui and Ami Butler — who were able to work together.
“It was a very good race for (Jodi),” Uhrich said. “It was tough for her, because the TCU girls had each other. I think she handled it well, to still stay in the top three.”
Freshman Heidi Lindeman took sixth overall and second on the team with a time of 21:07.40. Lindeman’s performance netted her C-USA Freshman of the Year honors, as well as a berth on the second team All-Conference.
Lindeman credits senior Brianna Dahm, who finished eighth overall and third on the team with a time of 21:22.60, with helping her throughout the race.
“We ran together,” Lindeman said. “And then with a half mile to go, she just told me, ‘Go, Heidi, go.’ That helped me out to get a better time and
to place higher.”
As far as Dahm herself goes, her performance got her named to the second team All-Conference. Dahm’s season was spent battling nagging injurie — she missed the meet at Bradley while recovering from track-related shin injuries, then had to deal with knee problems throughout the year — and she felt frustrated that she couldn’t have done better.
“It’s kind of frustrating, to be honest, because I’m still not running the way that I know that I can run,” she said. “It’s great the rest of the team is doing well, but personally it’s been frustrating, just because I know I haven’t been running as well as I can run.”
Seniors Jamie Haro and Audrey Schiltz, both had strong races. Haro finished twelfth overall and fourth on the team with a time of 21:46.20, while Schiltz finished fourteenth overall and fifth on the team with a time of 21:55.80. Both earned third team All-Conference honors.
“They ran like veterans,” Uhrich said of Haro and Schiltz. “That was the key to the race. They knew exactly what they needed to do.”
TCU pulled a surprise move, using senior Ami Butler, who had not run in a meet all season. Butler finished second overall.
“That was a surprise to us,” Uhrich said. “I hadn’t heard about this girl. That made things a lot closer. Had she not competed, we would’ve won by forty, fifty points. But her competing made a big difference.”
Uhrich, who was named Co-Coach of the Year with TCU coach Derek Koonts, feels that the Marquette dynasty should not slow down anytime soon. Three of the top five finishers will be returning next season — Jakubek, Lindeman, and Dahm, who will become a fifth-year senior.
“It’s obviously exciting, to have that many wins,” Uhrich said. “It’s a tradition that started, and it just kind of gets carried on, and the confidence keeps getting passed from one group to the next.”