PEORIA, ILL.  -- Drake junior Casey McDermott (Newton, Iowa) earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors after finishing ninth in the State Farm MVC Championship Saturday morning.

McDermott covered the 5,000-meter race held at the Newman Golf Course,  in 19 minutes 14 seconds.

The Bulldogs placed eighth overall with 187 points. Wichita State won the meet with 43 points.

"Casey (McDermott) ran a tough race to earn all conference honors," said Drake cross country coach Dan Hostager. "It was an outstanding field but the course was full of mud.

"So any mistake or let up would have meant a lot of places. The course conditions cost us one of our top runners early in the race but I was extremely proud of the efforts our ladies put in."

Drake junior Katie Coomer (Overland Park, Kan.) was 40th in 20:29, while senior Courtney Heinz (St. Paul, Minn.) was 42nd in 20:33.

Drake junior Meredith Bell (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) finished 45th in 20:38, while junior Lindsay Smith (Lakeville, Minn.) was 55th in 20:54 and junior Tara Scieszinski (Albia, Iowa) was 56th in 20:58.

Drake freshman Cammy Dole (Anamosa, Iowa) finished 67th in 21:46.

Drake will travel to Springfield, Mo., to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Saturday, Nov. 14. Missouri State will host the event, which features 33 Division I teams from nine different states.

Final Team Scoring
1. Wichita State 43; 2. Illinois State 86; 3. Bradley 93; 4. Indiana State 96; 5. Missouri State 101; 6. Southern Illinois 121; 7. Northern Iowa 166; 8. Drake 187; 9. Creighton 247; 10. Evansville 303.