ROCHESTER, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's cross country team wrapped up action this afternoon at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Rochester, Mich.

The Eagles placed 18th overall with a team average time of 22:45.02 after Head Coach Sue Parks was down two key athletes in the race.

"It was not a strong performance for us," said Parks. "Two of our top seven runners, Morgan Churchwell  (Ada, Mich.-Forest Hills Central) (injury) and Lauren Quaintance  (White Lake, Mich.Walled Lake Northern) (illness) were unable to compete, and that hurt us. We had some bad luck in the two weeks between the Mid-American Conference Championships and the regional meet and it resulted in a disappointing end to our season."

For the second straight season, sophomore Courtney Calka (Livonia, Mich.-Stevenson) was named to the All-Region team after pacing the Green and White with a 21st place finish. She maintained a mile average pace of 5:44.1 en route to a 21:22.79 total time at the Katke-Cousins Golf Course.

"Courtney had an amazing season," said Parks. "Unfortunately, things did not go her way in this last stretch of the season. But she did some great things this fall, and I know that she will build on this for the future."

Rachel Quaintance (White Lake, Mich.Walled Lake Northern) was the next to cross the finish line for the Eagles, posting a time of 22:10.41 in the 68th spot.

Tiffany Kincaid (Clarkston, Mich.-Clarkston) finished in 23:01.27 landing her in 122nd place in a field of 231 athletes, while Amber Hutson (Jerome, Mich.-Hanover Horton) and Natalie Webb (Allen Park, Mich.-Woodhaven) finished in 152nd and 153rd, respectively for EMU.

Although the Eagles were looking to end the season on a greater finish, there is much promise heading into next year's run.

"Our team place is not reflective of the season that we have had and the improvement that we have made since last year," said Parks. "But it is a young team and I know that they will use this as motivation for the track season and for next year. Even though it didn't show in this meet, the team is headed in the right direction. We hope to see the program make a big jump in the years to come."