Sept. 29, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After taking last week off from competition, the Illinois State cross country teams will be back in action this weekend, competing at the 34th Annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Intercollegiate Saturday afternoon in Chicago, Ill.
The Redbirds will be competing in downtown Chicago on a tough course that is next to the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The race will also feature one of the largest participant fields, including some of the toughest competition the `Birds have faced thus far. Nike and Fleet Feet will be sponsoring the annual event featuring 69 colleges, 52 high schools and 16 elementary schools in ten different races, making it one of the largest cross country races in the nation.
After spending the previous week conducting race-specific training sessions, head coach Elvis Forde feels that the teams are ready to compete this weekend but recognizes the challenges the course will place on the `Birds.
"I really do feel good about the progress that our team has made in the past four weeks and the potential performances this weekend," said Forde. "We have put in some special preparation and training for this race. We are trying to make this race a really big confidence builder for both teams.
"The course is relatively flat, expect for one hill that the course's path crosses about three times," added Forde. "You can call it `heart-break hill', because once you are running in the race for a while, your legs can get very heavy and makes crossing over the hill very difficult. The setting next to the lakefront also makes it an interesting race to compete in, because it gives the runners a chance to enjoy the scenery."
Senior Betsy McDonald leads the women's team into competition this weekend. The Neenah, Wis., native has finished in the top-six individually in all three races this season. The women's team will also get a boost with the return of sophomore Kim Smudde, who will be competing for the first time in 2006, and freshman Hannah Radostits, who will also be making her 2006 debut in Chicago. Also competing for the `Birds are junior Suzy Turner, sophomores Kathleen Thompson and Stacey Turilli and freshman Kim Ebbesen.
"It's a big event this weekend," said Forde. "The temperatures are going to be just right. We would like to have our student-athletes perform well this weekend. We hope that they can perform well so we can show our colors and let people recognize that we are still performing at a high level."
On the men's side, the `Birds are paced by a strong nucleus of four runners - sophomore Mike Richardson, junior Brian Glaza and freshmen Jordan Anderson and Scott Krapf. The `Birds will look to freshman Rob Barkulis, sophomore Brian Syring and senior Bronco Meeks to step into the fifth position in the men's 8K race this weekend.
"We know we have four solid runners on the men's side," said Forde. "Those four guys are running very well. We need some help from one of other three - Brian Syring, Rob Barkulis and Bronco Meeks, to really step into the fifth position for the rest of the season. We hope that it can come this weekend and give us a great confidence booster with only one more race before the conference championship."
The men's racing action begins 12:15 p.m., with the women's race following at 1:00 p.m.
