Youthful Women's Cross Country to Build on Experience SIUE to Open Season in North Dakota

Sept. 2, 2011

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -The SIUE women's cross country team, which returns all of its runners from a year ago, will look to build upon that year of experience for the 2011 campaign.
Aftan Noon (Forsyth) will lead the charge for the Cougars in her senior season. Noon was the top SIUE performer in all six meets last season including a personal best at the SIUE Cross Country Open.
"Aftan is definitely the front runner, but Ioana Citireag has been right up there with her," said third-year Head Coach Eileen McAllister. "Ioana adds a veteran element even though she is new to the program."
Citireag (Bihor, Romania) transfers to SIUE from fellow Ohio Valley Conference member Jacksonville State.
The next trio of runners has all been acclimated to the collegiate environment following their first full season of competition.
Claire Brown (Petersburg) and Hannah Lee (Jacksonville) made big strides during the offseason to be ready for the rigorous preseason training.
"You can tell that Claire trained hard over the summer," said McAllister. "She is in great shape. Hannah also trained well over the summer and is a lot more confident in her running."
The third runner, sophomore Emily Conlon (Ballwin, Mo.), hopes to make an impact for the Cougars after suffering a stress fracture during the track and field season.
"Emily looks solid coming back from her injury," added McAllister. "She is not cleared for full participation but we expect her back soon."
Transfer Kala Griffin brings a year of collegiate experience after spending her freshman season at UIC. "Kala has seen college competition and is used to this higher-level training," said McAllister. "She is not afraid of getting the mileage in."
Ellen Goins, a freshman from Germantown Hills, starts the year in the top seven for SIUE.
Katie Trettenero (Staunton), another freshman high on Coach McAllister's list, may be on the outside of the top seven but has the potential to get in the lineup.
"Katie has an incredible attitude," added McAllister. "Coming from a small program she did not have the training, but she is so enthusiastic and is willing to do anything that she can to get better in order to get into the top seven."
Also competing for the Cougars in 2011 are Elisha Crawley (Decatur), Renee Goodenough (St. Louis, Mo.), Lacey Hainline (Sherrard), Dede Lofton (Detroit, Mich.), and Megan Petty (Coal City). Each of these runners will create healthy competition for the team, according to Coach McAllister.
"The team's chemistry and what they provide for each other in training is so much different than last year," said McAllister. "We just don't have those big gaps between runners, and that allows us to have training partners for everybody."
The Cougars begin the season Saturday with a 900-mile trip to Grand Forks, N.D., for the UND Ron Pynn Invitational. The meet is set for double dual scoring featuring SIUE, North Dakota, and South Dakota State. Coach McAllister hopes the small field will help SIUE get a feel for where they are in the race.
"The team is very excited and chomping at the bit because workouts have been going so well and they are feeling confident," concluded McAllister. "The trip itself is something new and different. The kids are excited to race."
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