The Illinois State mens and womens cross country teams competed in the highly competitive Bradley Invite, and both walked away with very impressive showings.
Im pretty happy with the way both the men and women competed today, said cross country coach Chris Bailey. For us to compete with this teams and see the results that we see lets us know were getting to where we want to be.
The Illinois State women finished tied for third out of 14 Division 1 teams. Missouri won the event followed by Marquette, then Illinois State and Indiana State in third.
Lauren Ritt was again the top finisher for the women, as she ran the 5K course in a time of 18:02. Ritt was the winner in last weekends Redbird Challenge.
Lauren ran tough all race, and thats all you can ask, said Bailey. She looked real good at the start and had an outstanding finish.
On the mens side, Jeremy Doherty was the top Redbird finisher, as he set a personal best in the 8K with a time of 25:35.66.
Jeremy had a real good race, added Bailey. He has really been fighting some medical issues, like the stomach flu and dehydration, but he gave it his all today. He was in such a bad condition last week that he had to spend a night in the hospital.
Southern Illinois won the mens side of the meet and were followed by Northern Iowa, two teams Bailey knows he will see down the road.
For our conference to have the top two teams on the mens side really shows how deep the Valley is. We know we can compete with both of those teams, so know we just have to work harder and be ready come November, added Bailey.
The cross country team know has some time off before their next meet. The Birds will next be in action October 4, when they compete in the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invite in Chicago, Ill.
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