Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Track and Field	SIUE Track and Field SIUE Athletics

David Astrauskas

January 29, 2007 Relay Sets New Qualifying Time         EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's track and field 1,600-meter relay team improved its provisional qualifying mark at the Illinois Invite.         The women's new time of 3:50.52 currently is the third fastest time among Division II schools.         "We went into this meet wanting to improve our women's 4x400-meter relay time, and we accomplished that. Juliet Alrich (Carpentersville), Deserea Brown (Flossmoor), Angel Royston (Florissant, Mo.), and Valerie Simmons (St. Louis) put together some fast splits in the relay. I think those four will continue to drop the relay time in upcoming meets," said SIUE track and field coach Dave Astrauskas.         "Alrich had another outstanding day in the 400-meter dash. She has been training hard, and her times reflect her efforts at practice," said Astrauskas. Alrich's time of 57.57 placed her sixth overall at the Illinois Invite.         The Cougars did not compete with a full squad at the Illinois Invite.         "Most of our athletes took the weekend off in order to gear up for the final three regular season meets. We will have a full squad competing at the remaining meets on our schedule," added Astrauskas.         The SIUE women's track and field team will compete again Friday and Saturday at the Hoosier Relays in Bloomington, Ind.                 -siue cougars-