BRIEFLY: OTAHKIAN RUNNERS CRUISE TO TITLE IN OPENER

Southeast Missouri State University's women's cross country team opened its season in impressive fashion over the weekend as the Otahkians rolled to the title in the Memphis Invitational that featured seven Division I squads and a few lower-division teams.

The Otahkians scored 16 points, which was just one point off a perfect possible score of 15. Host Memphis was a distant second with 85 points. Murray State was third with 90 and Mississippi was fourth with 126.

Amy Arteme, the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion, picked up right where she left off last year as she was first individually with a two-mile time of 11 minutes 55 seconds.

Freshman Kaci Pilcher was third in 12:02, Christy Williams placed fourth in 12:29, Jessie Thompson finished sixth in 12:33 and Jackson High School product Jenny Brown was ninth in 12:40.

"I didn't really know what to expect the first meet. It was really hot, but they all ran very well. I was really proud," said Southeast coach Joey Haines. "I was really happy with all our performances and I was especially happy that Kaci did so well for a freshman."