MEET NOTES | COURSE MAP
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's cross country team are set to host the Country Financial Illinois State Invitational on Friday at the Illinois State Cross Country Course at the Weibring Golf Club, located on the northwest corner of campus near the intersection of Adelaide Street and Gregory Street. The women's 5K slated to begin at 5 p.m., followed by the men's 8K race set to start at 5:45 p.m.
The competition will feature ten teams including both Illinois State's men's and women's cross country meet: DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois, Iowa, Loyola, North Central, Northern Illinois, SIUE and Western Illinois.
"The women in particular had another week of training and that certainly will help us built more momentum, and we are looking for a positive outcome," said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee. "We are still trying to gather our fitness overall as a group. I think as the season goes on, we will get better and our goal for this week it just to be better than we were last week. We really want to pack up, compete and run a good team race."
On the men's side, Kyle Mattes is coming off a strong season-debut at the Hawkeye Invitational as he placed tenth in the men's 6K. Jesse Hahne also had an impressive season-opener at the Hawkeye Invite, while he finished third for the Redbirds in 33rd place. Last week, there were a few freshman standout performances, one coming from Kevin Koski as he finished second for Illinois State in 27th place.
For the women, freshman Dakota Roman started her career off on a strong note as she finished first for ISU at the Hawkeye Invite in 12th place. Freshman Phoebe Clowser and Grace Beattie also had strong efforts as Clowser placed 25th and Beattie picked up 27th, respectively. Ariel Michalek and Lindsey Lewis ran a tight race while they finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
Fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on the Redbirds, with free admission, at Weibring Golf Club. They can also follow live action on Twitter via @Redbird_TrackXC, or visit GoRedbirds.com for full coverage, following the conclusion of the meet.
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