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

Christine Butler

April 8, 2008 Courtesy of GLVC Sports Information GLVC Announces Women's Track & Field Athletes of the Week           INDIANAPOLIS – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Christine Butler (Matteson, Ill.) is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week and the University of Southern Indiana’s Mary Ballinger (Chesterton, Ind.) is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week.           Butler, a senior for the Cougars, secured an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II national championships in the triple jump at the SEMOtion Relays in Cape Girardeau, Missouri over the weekend.           She won the event at the meet with a jump of 12.40 meters. The effort currently ranks Butler first on the GLVC outdoor performance list and second on the national performance list.           SIUE will next compete at the Western Illinois Memorial on Saturday.           Ballinger, a sophomore runner for the Eagles, broke the meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the SEMOtion Relays on Saturday. It was her season debut in the event.           Ballinger finished the event in a time of 10:48.49, a NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark. She exceeded the automatic qualifying standard by 11.50 seconds.           USI will next compete at the Indiana Intercollegiate Championships this weekend in Indianapolis.           Other top performers in the GLVC last week included Bellarmine’s Emma Gailey and Katie Hickey, Lewis’ Christine Kustra and Terran Wertz, Missouri S&T’s Leah Morehead, SIU Edwardsville’s Juliet Alrich and UIndy’s Amy Schmitz and LeAnn Sarka.                   -siue cougars-