PEORIA, Ill.—University of Evansville junior Ryan Witters (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) finished a team-best 16th place overall Saturday morning to pace the Purple Aces’ efforts at the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Peoria, Illinois.

 

Witters finished the wet 8-K course in a time of 27:08 to finish 16th out of 72 runners to help the UE men finish in a tie for seventh place overall with Wichita State. On the women’s side, freshman Lauren Zeabart paced the Purple Aces for the fourth-straight meet by placing 49th overall in a 5-K time of 20:41.

 

“Ryan really ran a great race today, especially considering how soft the course was due to all of the rain in Peoria this week,” said UE head coach Don Walters. “He didn’t let the conditions affect him and really came to race today.

 

“On the women’s side, it was tough going for everyone, considering they raced second. I thought that Lauren really battled through the conditions though, and it was a good learning experience for her.”

 

Senior Brian Joyce (Evansville, Ind./Central) placed second for UE and 44th overall with an 8-K time of 28:23 to follow behind Witters. They were joined in UE’s scoring pack on the men’s side by juniors Christopher Kipchirchir (52nd—28:48) and Max Cordier (54th—28:57) and freshman Cody Stein (58th—29:07). 

 

On the women’s side, senior Courtney Heller (Montgomery, Ind./Barr-Reeve) raced second for UE, placing 58th overall in a time of 21:02. Sophomore Lauren Schaftlein (70th—21:52), senior Arrena Svoboda (72nd—22:01) and junior Jaclyn Dippel (73rd—22:13) rounded out UE’s scoring pack on the women’s side.

 

Illinois State’s Scott Krapf won the men’s individual title in an 8-K time of 25:47, while Missouri State’s Terry Phillips won the women’s overall title in a 5-K time of 18:32. Overall, the Indiana State men edged Southern Illinois by one point to win the men’s team title, while Wichita State sprinted to the women’s team title by over 40 points.

Evansville will wrap up the 2009 season in two weeks by taking part in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships in Bloomington, Indiana.