Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Track and Field	Women's Track and Field SIUE Athletics

Coreen Ellis Championships Site

March 15, 2008 SIUE Results SIUE Places Fourth at Indoor Nationals           MANKATO, Minn. – The final event of the day at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships proved to be the biggest for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's team.           The group of Juliet Alrich (Carpentersville), Coreen Ellis (St. Louis/Hazelwood Central), Angel Royston (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood East), and Deserea Brown (Flossmoor) captured a national championship in the 4 X 400-meter relay with a time of 3 minutes, 44.56 seconds.           The win lifted SIUE into fourth place in the team race, giving SIUE its first-ever national trophy in women's track and field.           "Our goal here was to leave with a trophy, and the girls came through," said SIUE coach Dave Astrauskas, who was honored at the meet as the National Coach of the Year.           Astrauskas said the relay was an exciting event for the Cougars. Although it was close for much of the race, Brown crossed the finish line more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Abilene Christian.           "Any time you win a national championship, it's not easy," said Astrauskas.           SIUE assistant coach Ben Beyers echoed Astrauskas.           "We knew they could do well. They just needed to stay focused and not get excited," he said.           SIUE nearly had another national champion at 800 meters. Ellis placed second in 2:11.87. She led the race for three of the four laps but was outkicked by South Dakota freshman Emma Erickson.           "That's a big PR (personal record) for her. I think she had a PR her last four times out. She had the sixth best time coming in so we knew she had some climbing to do. She's thrilled with second," Beyers said.           The Cougars made a big splash early in the day when Brown, Alrich and Royston all placed in the top eight in the 400-meter dash. Brown finished third in 55.91 followed by Alrich in fourth at 56.17 and Royston in seventh at 56.56. Brown's time tied Alrich's school record time.           Christine Butler (Matteson) won her qualifying flight in the triple jump and then finished third overall. Her leap of 39-1.25, which came on her second jump of the competition, led the meet at one point. Omonike Kotey, of Cal State-Los Angeles, won the event with a leap of 40-1.25.           Brown earned points in three events overall, adding an eighth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Her time in the finals was 9.12.                   -siue cougars-