MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Sept. 1, 2010) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's cross country team has established itself as one of the top teams in the league, with top-three finishes at each of the last seven Horizon League Championships.

Year in and year out, the team's goal at the league meet is to crack the top two, a feat reached with second-place finishes in back-to-back years in 2007-08.

In 2010, head coach Pete Corfeld returns three of his top five runners from last season as the Panthers will look to return to the top two of the league come championship time.

With three returning scorers, including a pair of all-league runners, Milwaukee appears in good shape.

After running second or better on the team at every meet as a freshman, Elise Sigg will look to step up into the No. 1 runner's shoes as just a sophomore. In her rookie season, she posted three top-five overall finishes, including at the league championships, where she took fifth.

Sigg had the benefit of running with Abbie Zaspel at every meet, but this season she will look to be that pace runner for her teammates. She capped last season off well, finishing 73rd as the top Milwaukee finisher at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship.

Senior Tanaiya Fisher could slide into the team's No. 2 position after finishing as the team's third runner at every meet in 2009. She earned her second-straight all-league second-team award as a junior and will look to make it a first-team award this season.

Junior Kristi Schuette rounds out the returning scorers for the Panthers. As a sophomore, she worked her way into the team's top-five and was UWM's No. 4 runner at every meet but one. She improved her league championship showing by 27 places from her freshman to sophomore seasons and will look to make another strong leap in her junior season.

A familiar face, a transfer and three freshmen fill out the roster for 2010. Junior Erika Hanson has been a strong contributor in track over her first two seasons, but will be making her cross country debut this season. She has focused on the 400m and 800m thus far in her Panther career. Sophomore Julia Bernstein is also gearing up for her first cross country season after a year of track at UW-Parkside. She transfers to Milwaukee with a collegiate personal best of 19:31.86 in the 5000m.

Freshmen Carissa Schneiter, Adriana Gutierrez and Katy Koch will get their first taste of collegiate competition this fall. Schneiter was a standout at Mayville High School, qualifying for the state cross country meet twice and track meet once. As a senior, she was sectional runner-up in cross country. Gutierrez competed in both cross country and track at New Berlin East, while Koch comes to UWM from Oak Creek High School.