Less than an hour before the Marquette women's cross country team ran in its first ever Big East Championship at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., coach David Uhrich asked them a question.
"Depth," answered the entire team in almost perfect unison.
Anyone who has followed this team throughout the season would know that Coach Uhrich asked what was the team's strongest suit. So when the coaches saw senior Jodi Jakubek limping 40 minutes before the race began, they knew someone would step up, thus making it an easy decision to rest her.
"Even without Jodi, people are going to step up," Uhrich said. "Almost everybody had their best race of the year."
Senior co-captain Tara Hinke seized her opportunity and delivered, running her best race ever at Marquette. Hinke placed fifth for the Golden Eagles and 27th overall (22:18) and was instrumental in keeping the ship afloat while Jakubek rested her heel.
Cassie Peller (21:49) finished 14th and led the pack for Marquette, earning All-Conference honors as a sophomore.
"I love this course because from 3K to 5K, you are in the woods, running up and down hills without many people around," Peller said.
Peller, who has led the way for the Golden Eagles a number of times this season, was followed by the tight pack of junior Michaela Courtney (22:07), senior Susie Emond (22:11) and senior Terri Emond (22:15). They finished 20th, 21st and 23rd to complement Peller's outstanding time.
Marquette finished with 105 team points, giving them third place behind Notre Dame (34) and Providence (59).Because of the large point gap, Uhrich emphasized that although Jakubek is important to the team and was missed, it was unlikely that the team would have placed any higher as a team.
"The Big East is so tough, and this was one of the toughest courses in the country," Uhrich said. "We could easily get five teams to the national meet."
Providence's All-American Fiona Crombie (20:50), and Notre Dame's All-American Molly Huddle (20:52) finished first and second, respectively. Marquette's placement ahead of Georgetown and Villanova may help them down the road.
"To get third was exciting, especially beause we beat a couple of teams that will help us get to nationals," Terri Emond said.
Although neither Georgetown and Villanova were ranked going into the race, they both received votes in the latest Division I FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Rankings. Notre Dame is ranked 4th and Providence 16th.
Next up for Marquette is the Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, Ind., on Nov. 12. Uhrich said he is still uncertain about the status of Jakubek.