Aug. 30, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
The 2007 Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams are set to begin their 2007 season at the Illinois Challenge, hosted by in-state rival Illinois in Urbana, Ill. The meet will take place Friday at the Illinois Arboretum at 5 p.m.
Head cross country coach Jeff Bovee believes the Illinois Challenge will be a good race to begin the cross country season.
"It is nice to run a shorter race at the beginning of the year and assess how the team is progressing," said Bovee. "Another reason we like to run this race is because it is not scored, so there's no pressure to run student-athletes that are not quite ready to race."
The Redbird women return the majority of their 2006 squad, as senior captain Suzy Turner, leads the team into competition after a eighth place finish last season's challenge. Following Turner at the 2006 challenge was sophomore Kim Ebbesen (16th) and juniors Kathleen Thompson (25th) and Stacey Turilli (30th). However, Thompson will not be participating in the first meet of the year due to injury.
Junior Mike Richardson, sophomore Scott Krapf and freshman Matt Mroczynski will pace the men's squad. Richardson, sophomore Jordan Anderson and Krapf were the top-three finishers for the `Birds at last year's race, placing 11th, 17th and 18th, respectively. Anderson will not be participating in Friday's race but he is expected to race the rest of the season.
"I feel that our team is ready," said Bovee. "I feel that the men had a good offseason, and they are more prepared and have a lot of solid depth."
The Redbirds will face off against Illinois, Marquette, Bradley and Danville Area Community College. Illinois State will be up against tough competition as the Illinois women's team finished No.8 in the nation in 2006 and the men's team finished seventh at the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional.
"This meet is a good opportunity to focus on team racing tactics," said Bovee. "Since our team is young, it is important that we work on our racing strategies and on improving as a team."
The women's 4K will kick off at 5 p.m., followed by the men's 6K at 5:30 p.m.
