RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Monday, August 20, 2012

UNI Picked To Finish 7th, Drake 8th In Valley Cross-Country

A young Drake women’s cross-country squad was picked to finish eighth by Missouri Valley Conference coaches in their preseason poll.

The Bulldogs bring back all of the runners who scored at the 2011 Valley meet. Sophomore Mariel Fulton (Louisville, Colo.) and senior Kirsten Lake (Parker, Colo.) were Drake's top-two finishers last year, running times of 18:58 and 19:21, respectively.

Lake turned in an outstanding track season, winning the 1500-meter run at the conference meet in a school-record time of 4:23.75. She was the only upperclassmen to run for the Bulldogs last season.

Sophomore Melissa Parks (Norfolk, Neb.) capped an impressive freshman season with a time of 19:29 at the league meet. Her sister, Stephanie Parks (Norfolk, Neb.), also looks to have a strong showing in her second cross-country season.

Juniors Amanda Marwitz (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Erin Poss (Antioch, Ill.) round out a talented class that hopes to improve on last season.

After winning last year's Valley title and returning four of the seven members of the championship squad, the league coaches picked Illinois State to claim the title in 2012. The Redbirds received seven first-place votes and a total of 96 points largely due to their trio of all-conference runners (Krista DeCeault, Elise Sigg and Kristen Zillmer) that are coming back.

Bradley was picked second in the preseason poll, earning one first-place vote and 83 points. Wichita State came in as an extremely close third, earning 82 points and the remaining two first-place votes. Northern Iowa is picked to finish seventh.
[This story was written for Ron Maly by Trygve Jensen of Drake's sports information staff].