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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 1:13 AM Wednesday, September 16, 2009

First-year coach Kelly Phillips said her Miami University women’s cross country team will get a good idea of where they stand after running in the Spartan Invitational on Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.

The RedHawks know they’re pretty good. The question is: How good?

Miami is ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region preseason poll. The RedHawks got an early jump on the season two weeks ago when they won the Dayton Flyer 5K Challenge.

The Spartan Invitational field includes two teams ranked ahead of Miami in the region, No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Michigan.

“This field will be a good test,” Phillips said. “Both Michigan teams are typically ranked in the top 10 in the country year in and year out. Those two schools will give us a taste of how fit we really are.”

Among Miami’s featured runners are three seniors (Laura Neufarth, Amanda Mirochna and Kelsey McHugh), two juniors (Katie Lenahan and Kelley Miller), a sophomore (Margaret Bingham) and a freshman (Alanah Sonntag). All seven placed among the top 15 finishers at the Dayton meet.

Miami won the first Mid-American Conference championship in program history last year.

“They’re coming back with even higher goals and higher expectations, which is exciting,” Phillips said.

Phillips, an assistant at Purdue the past four years, was hired in July. She was a two-time All-American in track at Auburn and qualified for the Olympic Trials in 1992 and ’96.

“I still do some running during lunch,” she said. “Once in a while I’ll run with the girls on easy days, but I can’t stay with them on the hard days.”

Men ranked No. 10

The men’s cross country team, No. 10 in the Great Lakes Region poll, will run Saturday in New York City in the Iona Meet of Champions.

Leahy ties career high

Senior outside hitter Maria Leahy tied a career high with 17 kills during the MU volleyball team’s final match of the Miami Best Western Sycamore Invitational Saturday, a 3-1 loss to tournament champion Pacific.

Leahy was named to the all-tournament team along with Miami senior setter Andrea Atteberry, who recorded 101 assists in the three matches.

Miami improved its record to 3-6 after going 2-1 in the invitational, opening with a 3-0 win over St. John’s.

The RedHawks will play in the LadyJack Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Coming up

Women’s soccer: The RedHawks (3-2), coming off a 3-1 victory over Xavier, will play a pair of matches at home this week, 5 p.m. Friday against Dayton and 1 p.m. Sunday against Cleveland State.

Field hockey: Miami (1-4) plays at 5 p.m. today at home against Ball State and will travel to Williamsburg, Va., to face William & Mary on Saturday.

Men’s golf: After finishing 11th in the 12-team Gopher Invitational, the RedHawks are off until Sept. 26-27, when they play in the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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