The Iowa women’s cross-country team did not meet any of its goals for the Big Ten championship meet over the weekend.

The harriers traveled to State College, Pa., hoping to move up in the conference standings and place higher than their sixth-place finish in 2008 to gain at-large points for the NCAA meet, on Nov. 23.

Sophomore Brooke Eilers said none of these goals were accomplished, though. The Hawkeyes finished sixth out of 11 Big Ten teams, also falling to their competitors from other regions, which prevented Iowa from gaining points toward that national meet.

Iowa went into the meet ranked 23rd nationally in Division-I cross-country. Four other teams — Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Penn State — were ranked ahead of Iowa, and all placed higher in the conference championship.

“The competition was what I expected,” Eilers said. “Any time you put ranked teams together, it’s going to be a tough race.”

Sophomore Betsy Flood finished first for the Hawkeyes with a time of 21:29. Captain Hannah Roeder, junior Lauren Hardesty, Eilers, and junior Amanda Hardesty closely followed.

The five finished within eight seconds of each other, which they attribute to training as a “pack.”

— by Michèle Danno