As Marquette prepares for the Great Lakes Regional Championships in Indiana this weekend, it must do so without senior leader Jodi Jakubek once again. Jakubek's season has ended due to a stress fracture in her foot.

So in a race that Marquette will need to perform well in to receive a bid to the national meet, the team will once again count on others to step into the spotlight. Two runners who may fill the void are Terri and Susie Emond, senior twin sisters who share a unique bond on and off the course.

"I always used to beat Terri, but now it's evening out," Susie said with a laugh.

Terri agreed that when the two began running in their hometown of Wyoming, Minn., there was obviously a reason that Susie was on the varsity team in seventh grade.

Terri also pointed out that the sisters' careers have played out nicely thus far.

"We're best friends," she said. "We weren't necessarily planning on going to the same school, but now I can't imagine not having her share the experience here at Marquette, it's easier to become a lot closer that way," Terri said.

So how similar are the two when it comes to running? In five races this season, Terri and Susie have finished a cumulative 43 seconds apart in nearly two hours of race time, and within 10 seconds of each other in four of the five races.

"We probably think about where each other are in each race, we have run so many races together that it's hard not to," Terri said.

The sisters also have a social and academic impact on each other.

"I have realized how much we have to do with each other's success both in the classroom and on the team, which is different from just a regular teammate," Susie said.

Head Coach David Uhrich has been here for the Emonds' full tenure at Marquette, and praises them for their contributions to the university.

"Susie and Terri have been very instrumental in the success of the team this year, both on and off the course," Uhrich said. "They came to me as walk-ons their freshmen year and quickly established themselves as varsity-level runners and have stayed there ever since."

Marquette hopes that the unique bond continues this Saturday in Bloomington on the Indiana University Golf Course. The 34-team 6K race will include Big East foes Notre Dame and Cincinnati, not to mention in-state counterparts Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Marquette, which comes into the race ranked 23rd nationally, is all but finished training for endurance. Now it is a matter of putting everything together and being mentally prepared.

"We've been focusing a little bit more on speed rather than some of the longer endurance workouts. We have been cutting back on our mileage," Susie said.

The Golden Eagles will have to put it all together this weekend at the Great Lakes Regional in what they hope is the second to last meeting of the year, not the last. A good performance should reward Marquette with a bid to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.