The Marquette women's cross country team continued its impressive season this weekend and won the 33rd annual Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational on the north side of Chicago.
The Golden Eagles captured the 5K title in the Women's Gold Division with 54 points, edging Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State by 19 points, as well as 26 other teams. It was Marquette's second first-place team finish in three major races this season.
"I knew even though there were 28 teams in the race, it wasn't the same level of competition as last week, and we still had to run really well to win it," said head coach David Uhrich.
His runners knew it too.
Sophomore Cassie Peller finished first for the Golden Eagles and fourth overall at 17:43. Junior Michaela Courtney (17:47) was four seconds behind her and finished fifth. Senior Jodi Jakubek rounded out what has become "The Big Three" for Marquette this season, finishing 11th with a time of 17:56.
Concluding the scoring effort were the Emond sisters, Susie (18:13) and Terri (18:18). The twins finished five seconds apart at 19th and 22nd. It was Terri's first top five finish for the Golden Eagles this season, showing the importance of depth on this years team.
"The depth is so important because someone has to step up in every meet," Terri Emond said. "We are never worried about who it is though, and I thought we ran really well."
If Terri Emond's finish in the top five for Marquette is not a strong enough indicator of the team's depth, Heidi Lindeman, Shannon Oster, Alli Sauer and Tara Hinke all finished in the top 40 in a race that had 274 runners.
"The biggest key for us right now is how much depth we have," Uhrich said. "We have had seven different people in our top five in one race or another. It's different people stepping up each week."
Peller's finish at the top for Marquette has become a fixture. She has been placed as Marquette's first, third and fourth place runner in the first three meets this season. Peller once again indicated that her teammates carried her.
"I got to run the 3-4K mark with Jodi and Michaela, and that helped me through the middle of the race, which is usually my weakest part," Peller said.
"Cassie is running really consistent, Michaela and Jodi too, the three have been helping each other in all the meets," Uhrich said.
Marquette now begins the process of rigorously preparing for the three final and most important meets of the season. This upcoming weekend they travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for Pre-Nationals.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 4, 2005.