Oct. 14, 2006

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Wake Forest senior Michelle Sikes won one of cross country's biggest regular season meets here Saturday at the Pre-National Meet, hosted by Indiana State.

Sikes finished first out of 245 competitors at the same 6,000-meter course that will host the NCAA Championship later this fall.  Sikes completed the run in 20:16, four seconds ahead of Stanford's Adrianna Lambie.

Sikes' performance helped Wake Forest finish 20^th out of 36 teams in the blue race. Thirty-seven other teams rank in the white race.

Wake Forest hopes to be one of the teams competing in Terre Haute Nov. 20 when the NCAA Championship takes place.

Sikes is putting together an outstanding fall season. In three races she has finished first twice and second once.

Wake Forest senior Erin Franklin finished in 65^th place with a time of 21:18. Deacon junior Caitlin Chrisman finished 132^nd with a time of 21:56. Sophomore Nicole Shappert took 152^nd at 22:08. Sophomore Allie Kieffer finished 165^th at 22:14. Sophomore Merry Placer finished 201^st at 22:45. Sophomore Adele Mitchell finished 240^th at 24:05.

Stanford, which placed three runners in the top five and four in the top 10, cruised to the team victory with just 45 points. Minnesota finished a distant second with 200 points, followed by Arizona State, BYU and Providence.

Top Five Teams

1) Stanford, 45

2) Minnesota, 200

3) Arizona State, 224

4) BYU, 242

5) Providence, 247

20) Wake Forest, 505

Top Five Individuals

1) Michelle Sikes (Wake Forest), 20:16

2) Adrianna Lambie (Stanford), 20:20

3) Kassie Anderson (BYU), 20:22

4) Teresa McWalters (Stanford), 20:24

5) Amanda Trotter (Stanford), 20:27

Wake Forest Individuals

1) Michelle Sikes, 20:16

65) Erin Franklin, 21:18

132) Caitlin Chrisman, 21:56

152) Nicole Shappert, 22:08

165) Allie Kieffer, 22:14

201) Merry Placer, 22:45

240) Adele Mitchell, 24:05