Team places 6th at invite

The women's cross country team placed sixth this weekend at the Illini Invitation 5K. Leading the way for the Hoosiers was sophomore Becky Obrecht. Obrecht finished with a time of 17:54 and placed ninth overall. This marks the first time that Obrecht has been the first Hoosier runner across the finish line.\nFreshman and Illinois native Mindy Peterson placed 17th in a time of 18:13. Peterson has placed second for the Hoosiers in both meets this year.\nRounding out the top five for Indiana was senior Erin Womble, freshman Jaime Higginbotham and sophomore Audrey Giesler.\nLeading the meet with 66 points was Wichita State University. The Hoosiers scored 119 points. There was a battle for second as Butler University edged out Northwestern University 76 to 77. \nIU's closest competitors were Loyola University (Chicago) and the University of Illinois who scored 101 points. The Hoosiers defeated the remaining competitors. The rest of the field failed to score below 200 points. \nHead coach Judy Bogenschutz said of Indiana's performance, "It is still very early in the season to project what this means for our team. There is still a great deal of time and training to be put under the belt that will make a difference for our entire team and also in the sense of fine-tuning two of our top athletes who are in the process of returning to form."\nJuniors Allyson Hammond and Amanda Bell returned to competition, but did not factor in the race. \nBoth are returning from injuries and look forward to later in the season. \nObrecht is starting to come into her own. Her time this weekend was a personal record by 1:27.\n"Much of what we have been focusing on lately is the mentality and confidence to our race approach. Becky (Obrecht) made huge strides in that area today," Bogenschutz said.