The Illinois State cross country team is in Waterloo, Iowa, this weekend, as they will compete in the NCAA Pre-Nationals, which are being hosted by Northern Iowa. Annually, the Pre-Nationals is the largest Division I meet in the country, and showcases many of the nations top teams.
The Redbirds are coming off a weekend when most of their runners did not compete, in order to be able to run at the top level in Waterloo.
Only a handful of Birds were in action at last weekends Border Wars event, hosted by SIU-E. Liz Callham was the only woman in action, as she finished the 5K with a time of 21:05. Greg Baker was the highest mens finisher, coming in at 23rd.
This year, 21 of the nations top 30 womens teams and 22 of the countrys top 30 mens squads are in town to run at Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Waterloo.
This should be an outstanding meet for our kids to run in, said Illinois State head coach Chris Bailey. You look at the list of all the teams that will be there this weekend and you cant help but get a little excited.
Illinois States mens team will be led by sophomore Jeremy Doherty. The St. Louis native has been the Redbirds top finisher in every event in which he has competed in 2003.
On the womens side, the one-two punch of Diana Ainsley and Lauren Ritt will lead their team. Ainsley is coming off her top race as a Redbird, setting a new personal best at Loyola two weeks ago. Ritt has been the top female finisher twice, including a win during the Redbird Challenge in September.
Our kids are running real strong right now, we saw that at Loyola, added Bailey. Well be able to use this weekend as a measuring stick to compare ourselves with not only some of the top conference teams, but also some of the top teams in the nation.
