Stevens Point's Leah Juno and Becky Lebak finished one-two in the conference meet and were fifth and ninth, respectively, in the 1999 regional.
With six straight titles and 13 in the past 14 years, UW-Oshkosh is a decided favorite to win the women's championship in today's NCAA Midwest Regional.
Oshkosh, ranked No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division III poll behind Middlebury, VT and Calvin, MI, recently won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship but only by 10 points over UW-Stevens Point which is ranked 12th nationally. The Titans, coached by Deb Vercauteren, are led by Dar Amelse and Sara Holewinski who finished third and fourth in the WIAC meet. Amelse was 11th in last year's regional meet. Two other Titans who placed among the top 35 in last year's regional, Sara Bailie and Tovan Mendoza, return to give the Oshkosh a solid nucleus.
Stevens Point's Leah Juno and Becky Lebak finished one-two in the conference meet and were fifth and ninth, respectively, in the 1999 regional.
Two-time defending regional champion and last year's NCAA national champion Rhaina Echols from the University of Chicago is gone as is regional runner-up Jenny Fiedler from UW-La Crosse.
The top returning individual from last year's regional is Elmhurst's Jenni Markanich who was third and ran a 17:55 in a 20-team meet on this Whitetail course October 7. She placed 10th in last year's nationals and this year won her second consecutive College College of Illinois and Wisconsin championship while leading the Bluejays to the team title.
Chicago's sophomore Wendy Sullivan won the University Athletic Association championship this fall with Washington University's Susan Chou third and teammate Beth Peterson fifth while Carroll freshman Kristin Igielski was the Midwest Conference champion in leading her team to a conference title and will be among the runners to keep on a eye on.
Lawrence University won the Midwest Conference last year and was runner-up this year. The Vikings had the conference's third and fourth finishers in Sally Schonfeld and Katy Roll.
WashU finished second and Chicago fourth in the UAA championships. Wheaton, the 1999 CCIW champ, was runner-up this year and was paced by Maria Eley, the conference individual runner-up.
With the strength of the WIAC, the other runners to watch are Eau Claire's Karin Diestelmeier (5th), Whitewater's Kara Krumenauer (6th) and Jessica Davida (8th) and La Crosse's Jessica Dober (7th).
Besides Oshkosh and Stevens Point, the Midwest Region has three other teams ranked among the top 20 in the most recent Division III poll. La Crosse is No. 16, Elmhurst No. 18 and Washington University No. 19. Augustana and Wheaton were ranked teams during the course of the season.
The top five teams and the top seven individuals not members of a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships next Saturday in Spokane, Wash.