Oct. 27, 2007
Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
Sophomore Scott Krapf finished in fourth place running the men's 8K in 24 minutes, 41 seconds guiding the Illinois State men's cross country team to a second-place finish; while Palatine, Ill., native and senior Suzy Turner keyed the women to a fourth-place finish at the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Saturday.
The Valley championships, hosted by Northern Iowa, were held at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course. Strong winds posed a challenging force, as Illinois State's country teams competed in their final regular season race.
Head coach Jeff Bovee was proud of both teams' achievements as the men's and women's teams have made great strides from last year's seventh (women) and eighth (men) place finishes at the 2006 Valley championship.
"I am pleased with the women and the men today," said Bovee. "They competed with their hearts and souls, you can not ask for anything more. We are a young team, and out of this group of kids, we will only lose Suzy Turner to graduation this is an exciting time for our program and I am excited to see what we can do next year."
In the men's 8K Illinois State cruised to a second-place finish (52 points) with three runners placing among the top-10 finishers and, for a first time this season, four runners posted sub-25-minute finishes. The men's team was keyed by Krapf and Jordan Anderson (sixth, 24:47). Junior captain Mike Richardson ran a personal-best 24:52 for an eighth-place finish, while freshman Matt Mroczynski clocked in at 24:59, and in 12th place. Freshman Luke Ryan stepped up for the `Birds, coming in 22nd place with a personal-best time of 25:29.
Krapf, Anderson and Richardson were all named to the MVC all-conference team, the last time the `Birds had three or more runners selected to the all-conference team since 2002, when Illinois State won its last cross country championship on the performances of Christian Goy, Walter Ogala, Allan Kipchoge and Walker Eye.
"The men really did a great job today," said Bovee. "Scott (Krapf) ran his best race of the season and really had a breakthrough performance. Matt (Mroczynski) was the first freshman to finish the race and Luke Ryan really solidified the team's second-place finish, Luke kicked out the last leg of the race and passed at least 10 other guys to finish 22nd."
Southern Illinois, who were the pre-championship favorite in the men's race, won the Valley title, as they tallied 35 points and placed three runners in the top-three. Saluki runner Jeff Schirmer was the first-place finisher clocking in at 24:32 and was followed by his teammates, Mohamed Mohamed (second, 24:34) and Kevin Doran (third, 24:35). Indiana State failed to claim their fourth-straight MVC title and finished third with 73 points. Creighton rallied for a fourth-place finish with 137 points and were followed by Drake (147), Wichita State (154), Northern Iowa (157), Bradley (158) and Evansville (223).
After being picked to finish third in the pre-championship coaches' poll, the Redbird women finalized their regular season in fourth place (101 points) at the Valley championships. In her final cross country Valley championship, Turner achieved her fifth-straight top-finish for ISU running the women's 5K with a personal-best 17:40.71 (sixth). Freshman Jess Husted was the second `Bird to cross the finish line, coming in 18th place with a personal-best time of 18:09. Also achieving a personal-best time was freshman Sarah Glowacki, who clocked in at 24:31.80, good enough for 24th place.
Rounding out the women's performance was sophomore Kim Ebbesen (18:34); and juniors Natalie Scatena (18:36) and Kathleen Thompson (18:39), in 26th, 27th and 28th place, respectively.
Going into the race, Bovee and the Redbird women had their goals set at a top-three finish, however, were satisfied with fourth place.
"Suzy caped her senior season off with a huge success, and had the race of her life," said Bovee. "I think that she wanted to make the most of her last race. She started the from behind at the beginning of the race, but was able to just keep fighting her way up.
"I also think that our freshmen did a great job running today. Jess Husted was our second runner in and she was the first freshman in the Valley to cross the finish line. I think that says a lot about the strength of our freshman class."
In the women's race, Wichita State's Kellyn Johnson won the championship running a 16:59.53, keying her team to conference championship with 47 points. Missouri State placed second with 58 points, while host Northern Iowa came in third with 93 points; Indiana State (136) finished fifth and were followed by Drake (156), Southern Illinois (197), Bradley (199), Creighton (221) and Evansville (220).
Illinois State's cross country teams are scheduled to race again November 10th, at the NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Bradley. The race will be held at the Newman Golf course in Peoria, Ill., at 11 a.m.
