SALEM, Va. - Eastern Women's Cross Country was back in action this afternoon at the South Region Showdown hosted by Roanoke College. In a strong field of DI, DII, and DIII teams, and without their No. 2 runner, Julia Wade, the Eagles finished ninth with a score of 346.

Despite Wade's absence, Eastern's 2-7 runners of Ashley Medina (25:47.2), Tierra Hill (25:54.6), Gisella Croge (26:08.1), Chelsea Kipnis (26:14.9), Jessica Ferrera (26:16.2), and Kayleight Newsome (26:16.6) ran a tight pack, running at a 29-second spread. First-year Ashley Bitler continued her strong rookie campaign with a time of 24:53 to lead the Eagles.

Head Coach Kiehl Smith was pleased with his team's performance despite being shorthanded.

"Missing our number two today takes a toll on the overall team placement," Head Coach Kiehl Smith said. "Despite that, the core of the team really ran a strong team oriented race. I was very interested to see how the team would do while missing our number 2. I was impressed as our 2-7 put up a really incredibly close team spread. This was the best pack performance by this women's squad yet."

Eastern will have one final tune up before the MAC Championships. The Eagles will compete at the LVC Last Chance Run Fast race on Friday in Lebanon.