Saturdays Redbird Challenge is the first test for the Illinois State cross country team in 2004, and opening the season at home is a welcomed advantage according to head coach Chris Bailey.
The meet will take place on the recreation field just north of the ISU Golf Course, with Northern Iowa and Illinois joining the competition. The women will run at 9 a.m., with the men immediately following afterward. Bailey is excited to get the season underway and feels that starting off at home will motivate his runners.
I think the kids are always excited to be at home and it gives friends and family a chance to come and watch us run, Bailey said. Its not going to be a big meet, but we will use it to find out where were at right now and where we need to go from here.
The mens squad features an extremely young roster that includes five freshmen. Three in particular, Brian Glaza, Nick Dunn and Geoff Houtman are expected to make an immediate impact this season. But Bailey will turn to a veteran for leadership in 2004. Junior Jeremy Doherty had a stellar season in 2003, placing third at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, running a personal best in the 8K with a time of 24:26. The time qualified him for the Midwest Regionals.
Jeremy is expecting to win the conference championship and I think anything less would be a disappointment in his mind, Bailey said. The younger guys are going to be looking to him for leadership, but we are going to need some of these young guys to step up, as well as the guys returning if we are going to do anything this season.
The women will feature a lot more familiar faces than their male counterparts. The Redbirds return two all-conference performers in seniors Diana Ainsley and Laura Kennedy, who finished fourth and eighth respectively at last seasons MVC Championships. Senior Leah Smith and junior Betsy McDonald also return, with newcomers Whitney Beals and Suzy Turner also added to the mix.
Laura Kennedy is in unbelievable shape right now and I really think she is going to make some noise at the top of the conference, Bailey said. I think weve got a solid group of runners that put in a lot of work this summer.
Southwest Missouri State is the favorite on the womens side in 2004, but Bailey feels his Redbirds can put up a challenge at the top of the MVC leader board.
SMS is a tough team and theyre a unanimous number one in the preseason poll right now, Bailey said. But we can challenge them.
