Results

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's cross country team placed 11th this afternoon at the Penn State National Invitational at University Park, Pa.

The Eagles were paced by the reining Mid-American Conference Runner of the Week (Oct. 13, 2010) honoree, sophomore Courtney Calka (Livonia, Mich.-Stevenson). Calka's time of 20:52 was good for a seventh place finish overall. She also maintained a pace time of 5:38 in the 6K event.

"Courtney Calka continues to run at a very high level," said Head Coach Sue Parks. "Villanova was the 2009 NCAA Champion and are favored to repeat this fall, and Courtney competed very well with their top runners. She has made a strong statement that she is ready to battle with the top runners in the Mid-American Conference and the region."

Coach Parks was also optimistic with the rest of her squad after their performance this afternoon.

"We had some ups and downs with the rest of the team," Parks said. "It is a young team, and they are still learning, but we know that if we can get it all together, we can be competitive in this last stretch of the season."

Sophomore Morgan Churchwell (Ada, Mich.-Forest Hills Central) was the next runner for EMU to cross the finish line, taking 70th in the 303-participant field with a time of 22:22. She was followed by teammates Cassie Coffman (Chelsea, Mich.-Chelsea) and Rachel Quaintance (White Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) who finished 92nd (22:39) and 94th (22:42), respectively.

The Green and White will return to action next weekend on Saturday, Oct 23, when the host their annual Eastern Michigan Classic. The race is scheduled to a 10 a.m. start.