Marquette University Athletics
Something Old, Something New
6/21/1999 12:00:00āÆAM | Women's Cross Country
May 25, 1999
MILWAUKEE - Marquette cross country coach Dave Uhrich didn't really know what to expect entering the 1998 season. With the graduation of four All-Conference USA performers from a year ago, including All-American Amy Erickson, Uhrich realized that some of the burden would fall to his talented, yet inexperienced, freshmen class. Those freshman, especially newcomer Kiley Reese, responded to the challenge and, aided by some strong performances from the more experienced runners, guided the Golden Eagles to a successful season.
Reese was the story for Marquette during the 1998 season. She was MU's top finisher in five of the six races and finished second in the other one. She earned All-Conference USA honors after finishing ninth overall at the conference championship on Oct. 31, in Memphis, Tenn. The freshman from Portland, Ore., had three top-10 overall finishes including a second-place finish at the Indiana State Invitational, leading the Golden Eagles to victory in the 11-team event. She also placed ninth at the UW-Parkside Invitational. Another impressive performance came at the Stanford Invitational, a meet that included three of the top five teams in the country, when Reese finished 35th in her fastest time of the season, 18:08. Reese was the only MU runner to break the 19-minute mark at every meet this fall.
"I knew Kiley would be very competitive right away but she exceeded my expectations," Uhrich said. "I didn't expect her to be our number-one runner, at least not this season. She was a pleasant surprise."
Senior Kim Bendel entered the 1998 season as the only holdover from a team that won the Conference USA title a year ago and tied the best finish ever for a Marquette squad at the NCAA Regionals, fifth. Bendel's leadership was key as she was MU's second finisher in four of the five races she competed in. Included among those finishes was a 13th-place overall at the C-USA Championships. For that, Bendel earned All-Conference USA honors for the second consecutive year. Marquette finished second at that event, the fourth consecutive year the Golden Eagles have finished either first or second.
Sophomore Sarah McCullough was the only Golden Eagle besides Reese to finish among Marquette's top five runners at every meet this season. She had three top-15 overall finishes and placed sixth at the Indiana State Invitational. Fellow sophomore Erika Jacobson returned to the team after sitting out a year and made her presence felt right away. She was MU's top finisher at the season's opening race, the National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame. Jacobson finished ninth at that event and would finish in Marquette's top four three more times during the season.
Two other key contributers for the Golden Eagles were sophomore Anne Schneider and freshman Jacqueline Swan. Schneider placed among Marquette's top five in five races this season. Her best finish was an 11th-place showing at the UW-Parkside Invitational, one of her two top-15 finishes. Swan was strong in the early part of the season, finishing in MU's top five at each of the first four races As a team, Marquette placed in the top three at four meets. They were third out of 27 at the National Catholic Championships and second at both the 28-team UW-Parkside Invitational and the 12-team Conference USA Championship. Their lone win of the season came on Oct. 10 a the Indiana State Invitational on the same course that the NCAA District IV Championships would be run a month later. That field experience proved useful for the Golden Eagles as they placed ninth out of 26 teams at the district meet, the fifth consecutive year that Marquette placed in the top 10 at this event.
"We had a very young team this season but they progressed well as the year went on," Uhrich said. "We were successful this year and have the potential to be very good next season because we lose only one of our top five runners."
