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Men win first conference title since 1995

The Saluki men shared the Missouri Valley Conference title, their first since 1995, with Indiana State on a blustery Saturday morning.

Both teams amassed only 48 points to force the first tie since 1960, when Drake and Wichita State performed the same feat.

Matt Sparks, head coach for SIU's cross country teams, said the shared title was a bittersweet ending to the grueling meet.

"I'm from Indiana and I've known their coach for about 15 years," Sparks said. "They've worked hard, and if there was anyone I would choose to tie with, it would be them."

John McNichols, Indiana State's head coach, also received the MVC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year Award.

Despite the shared title, the Salukis still proved the pre-championship poll correct by taking first and having three runners receive All-Conference honors.

Junior Joe Byrne led the Salukis with a fourth-place finish and a time of 25 minutes and 45.42 seconds. Sophomore Diarmuid Grant finished right behind Byrne in fifth (25:52.67).

Rounding out the top ten for the Salukis was senior Eli Baker. He captured ninth with a time of 26:05.32. The three Salukis were named All-Conference runners for finishing in the top 10.

Baker said he knew the results were going to be close for the men's eight-kilometer race.

"I was still real shocked to learn there was a tie," Baker said. "We'll still take being co-champions."

Senior Tony LaChiana (17th, 26:40.53) and junior Rob Duncan (13th, 26:24.40) helped the Salukis to force the tie. Sparks said Duncan ran his best race of the year and picked the perfect time to do so.

"I always say it's about coming out and performing on the day you need to," Sparks said.

Flecked with mud, many of the runners crossed the finish line and stumbled into the arms of teammates, who helped them off the course. The uncharacteristically warm weather led to slower times and some cases of dehydration, according to Sparks.

The same was true in the women's five-kilometer race. Sparks said several girls staggered through the last 200 meters and SIU's Jessica Ordway dropped out of the race around the 12-minute mark. Sparks said the freshman would be seeing a cardiologist to determine the cause of the breathing difficulties plaguing her since the Saluki Invitational.

Although Ordway was unable to finish the race, the Saluki women were still led to second place by sophomores Brittani Christensen and Lindsay Wagner.

Christensen (fifth, 18:16.42) and Wagner (eighth, 18:32.63) garnered All-conference honors for placing in the top 10. They were the only Salukis to do so.

Southwest Missouri State, the pre-championship favorite, placed four women in the top 10, including individual champion Casey Owens.

Owens finished in 17:53.75 to lead SMS to the winner's circle with a scant 38 points as a team, while SIU accumulated 60 points.

Sparks was still extremely impressed by the performance of the Saluki women.

"We had five sophomores that vastly improved their positions from last year's conference race," Sparks said.

Brittani Christensen improved from 11th to fifth, Lindsay Wagner went from 12th to eighth, Sarah Rinker moved up from 16th to 13th, Cherylynn Schilling rocketed from 28th to 16th and Katie Birn moved from 32nd to 18th.

All five women will be back next season, but SMS will be losing two of their top five runners to graduation. Owens and Erin Sutton, who finished sixth Saturday, will be leaving, something Sparks said could make quite a difference.

"Next year could be a different story," Sparks said. "But I'm extremely happy with the way both teams ran today."