Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cross Country	SIUE Women's Cross Country SIUE Athletics

September 25, 2006 SIUE Cross Country Heads to Louisville           The SIUE men's and women's cross country teams travel to Louisville, Ky., for one of the largest fields this season.           SIUE will be among 37 men's teams and 34 women's teams competing in the "gold" race. The men's race begins at 9:30 a.m. at E. P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville.           SIUE Assistant Coach Eileen McAllister said that after having a week off from competition, the Cougars should be fresh for the Louisville meet.           "As a team, the men and women closed the gap between the top five and top seven runners. There was top competition on both sides, and I was very pleased with the overall results at this point in the season," she said.           McAllister pointed to SIUE's finish at the Eastern Illinois Open as to how the Cougars are progressing.           "Everyone had specific goals for the race this weekend, mostly dealing with race strategy. They were focusing on certain aspects of their race. Most of the athletes accomplished those goals," McAllister said.           Kayla Brown (Petersburg) posted the fourth-fastest 5,00-meter time by a freshman in her last race. Brown placed 11th in 18 minutes, 36.25 seconds.           Kelly Flounders (Homer Glen) and Heather Hackel (Decatur) have been very solid and consistent the first three races. McAllister also said Michelle Meador (Bower) and Stacey Briggs (Argenta) made huge improvements from this race last season.           On the men's side, Erik Steffens (Moline) accomplished his goal for Eastern Illinois race by being more aggressive from the start of the race and going out with the leaders.           Justin Crain (McLeansboro) has been very consistent despite fighting a nagging groin injury, said McAllister. "And Blake Marcum (Centralia) had a terrific race, bettering any of his 8,000-meter times from 2005 by more than a minute and 20 seconds.           -siue cougars-