BALANCED WHEATON ATTACK GIVES THUNDER SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE

WHEATON, Illinois – The Wheaton Thunder put five runners into the top 11 individual places and used that balance to score an impressive victory in the 2004 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin women’s cross country championship. The Thunder scored 39 points to win by 14 over runner-up North Central on a windy day at the DuPage River Park in Wheaton, Illinois.

Marisa Mele of Elmhurst won the individual title with a time of 22:57, besting Molly Morrison of North Central by just two seconds. Morrison’s teammate, Jessica Griffin, was third in 23:08. Jesi Christiansen of Wheaton was the first Thunder runner to cross the finish line and she was fourth with a time of 23:30 while Marah Borgman, also of Wheaton, was fifth in 23:32. The Illinois Wesleyan duo of Valerie Lambrecht (23:37) and Melinda Sprague (23:46) placed sixth and seventh while eighth place was taken by Erin Marciniec of Augustana in 23:46. Laura Hillard, Jamie Mouw and Rachael Zisk, all of Wheaton, took places nine through 11 to seal the victory for the Thunder.

Wheaton’s team championship was the sixth in school history. Illinois Wesleyan was third with 90 and Carthage was a distant fourth with 121. Augustana (133), Elmhurst (138), Millikin (174) and North Park (203) completed the field.