McKendree Women's Cross Country Races to Seventh-Place Showing at Washington University Meet

(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Sept. 1)—The McKendree University women's cross country team opened its 2012 season Saturday by taking seventh place at the Washington University Early Bird on the Forest Park course in St. Louis.
 
The Bearcats had a quartet of runners that earned top-50 finishes in the race, which was contested on a muddy course from the rain that hit the St. Louis area Friday and Saturday. Junior Hannah Inyart (Belleville, IL/Belleville East) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) had the highest finish for McKendree, taking 20^th out of 140 runners with a time of 16:03 on the five-kilometer course. Freshman Kourtney Huelskamp (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) was next in 35^th place with a time of 16:23.
 
Taking 46^th and 47^th place, respectively, were juniors Megan Doty (Collinsville, IL/Triad) (Collinsville, Ill./Triad) and Lauren Ewart (Troy, IL/Triad) (Troy, Ill./Triad).
 
Southeast Missouri State won the women's race, followed by Washington University with Union University collecting third place.
 
McKendree will return to action Sept. 15 at the Richard Clark Invitational in Springfield, Mo. The event is being hosted by Missouri State University on the same course that will be used for the GLVC Championship on Oct. 20.