After finishing ninth at the NCAA Regional meet Saturday to qualify for the NCAA Championships, junior Jeff Schirmer has an opportunity to achieve his goal for the 2008 season – be named an All-American.

Schirmer ran the Stillwater, Okla., course in 31:22.60 to be named All-Region for the first time since his freshman year, when he finished in 25th place in Minneapolis, Minn.

Schirmer said because he has made it to the NCAA Championships, he can now focus on performing his best once he is there.

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‘My main goal was to make sure I made it to Nationals,’ Schirmer said. ‘Like I said from the get-go, I really want that All-American status.’

The men’s cross country team finished in sixth place. They were 80 points out of fourth place, which would have qualified them for Nationals as a team.

Sophomore Dan Dunbar joined Schirmer on the All-Region team, finishing in 24th place, 57 spots better than what he ran last season, with a time of 31:59.90. Junior Jason Ordway rounded out the Saluki top three, running with a time of 32:27.95 to finish in 47th place.

Sophomore Kyle Kirchner and senior Mark Bowman rounded out the top five for SIU, finishing 51st and 56th, respectively.

Head coach Matt Sparks said the team ran as expected.

‘In order to qualify, we would have needed some people to step up and perform,’ Sparks said. ‘They just weren’t up to the task and need another year to develop.’

The women’s team, meanwhile, improved eight positions from its 23rd place finish of a year ago, as they captured 15th place.

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Sophomores Emily Toennies and Megan Hoelscher led the Saluki women. Toennies took 54th place with a time of 22:27.95, while Hoelscher finished right behind her with a time of 22:35.35 to finish in 59th place.

But Sparks said he was ecstatic to see the performance of sophomore Ryan Eichelberger.

‘She really hadn’t done that since she’d been in college,’ Sparks said. ‘That was her first big race since she’s been in college.’

Eichelberger finished third for the Salukis, 79th overall, with a time of 22:50.15.

Rounding out the top five for the Salukis were senior A’Seret Dokubo and freshman Jamie Pfister. Dokubo finished in 83rd place while Pfister finished in 107th place.

Stile Smith can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 282 or [email protected]