Oct. 12, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Newly appointed Redbird cross country head coach Jeff Bovee leads his team to Peoria for the Bradley Classic this weekend for its final race heading into the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
The Redbirds will be joined in the competition by Missouri Valley Conference members Drake and Bradley, the event host. In-state rivals Western Illinois, Illinois-Chicago and DePaul also join Arkansas State, Missouri, Saint Louis, Windsor and Wisconsin-Green Bay in the 12-team field.
The racing action begins on Friday with the women's 6K race at 4:15 p.m. The men's 8K race will follow beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Bovee is excited about tomorrow's competition, as he will be heading into the event at the helm of the cross country program for the first time.
"I'm excited about this opportunity," said Bovee. "It's a chance for me to see the teams compete for the first time. For me, it's always a joy to see your athletes go out there and give everything they have.
"I haven't had time to get nervous," Bovee continued, commenting on his new position. "I've been pretty busy with the transition process. When we get the uniforms on and the spikes on and we head to the starting line, it will be pretty exciting and there might be some nerves. But, with head coach Elvis Forde helping with the transition and the athletes themselves making me feel comfortable, it's gone about as smooth as it can go. I feel like we have been together a lot longer than it really has been."
On the women's side, the Redbirds will look to senior Betsy McDonald to return to her early season form in the women's 6K race. McDonald began the season with three top-six performances, including a second-place finish in the Bradley Open. Junior Suzy Turner will also be another runner for the `Birds that could compete for the individual crown, as she had three consecutive top-eight finishes to begin the season. Sophomore Kathleen Thompson has been making strides throughout the team's training sessions, as well as freshman Kim Ebbesen and sophomore Stacey Turilli.
"I really feel like Betsy will bounce back and run well because she has been running great in practice," said Bovee. "She had a setback in the last race, but I think it was just a temporary thing. I really expect that she will get back to the form that she had in the first three meets. Kathleen Thompson is ready to get after a good one as well. Probably the person that has been making the biggest improvements is Stacey Turilli, because she's been looking very good in work outs and closing that gap on the top four."
The freshmen duo of Jordan Anderson and Scott Krapf have been showing signs of things to come for the men's squad. Both had solid performances at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational, continuing the trend of improvement in each race. Sophomore Mike Richardson is also another Redbird that could contend for the individual plaudit. The Redbirds will look to freshman Rob Barkulis and senior Bronco Meeks to step up into the role of the fifth runner.
"The two guys that have been looking really strong in practice that I think we will be looking for are Rob Barkulis and Bronco Meeks," said Bovee. "Rob has been looking really good. He is another freshman that is beginning to find his own stride. Bronco has also been running very well in work outs and I really think he is going to make a nice improvement over what we have seen."
