Aug. 31, 2007
Results
URBANA, Ill. -
Senior Suzy Turner and freshman Matt Mroczynski paced the women's and men's teams, respectively, with second-place finishes at the Illini Challenge Friday at the Illinois Arboretum in Urbana, Ill.
The women's team placed second in the 4K race behind Marquette and was followed by Illinois and Bradley. On the men's side ISU placed second in the 6K race behind Illinois and were followed by Marquette, Bradley, Illinois Cross Country Club and Danville Area Community College.
Head coach Jeff Bovee was pleased with his teams' performance and feels that the Illini Challenge was a step in the right direction.
"The women's and men's teams did really well today," said Bovee. "The women did a great job executing our strategy of running together through the first half and taking off in the second half of the race. The men had a harder time staying together and did not execute the race strategy quite as well, but that is to be expected with a group of competitive guys."
On the women's side, four Redbirds placed in the top-10 at the Illini Challenge. Turner, the Redbird captain, finished the race in 14 minutes, 39 seconds. Junior Stacey Turilli took one minute and 10 seconds off her time from last year's Illini Challenge, finishing the race in fourth place with a time of 14:45.
Bovee knew that Turilli was going to be a top performer for the `Birds, but was impressed when she was the second finisher for Illinois State and improved her time from a year ago.
"I don't think that I have seen anyone improve so much in one year," said Bovee. "Stacey has been building her strength and really improving since March. She has a desire to do well not only for herself, but for the team. Her hard work is paying off and she deserves success."
Also finishing strong for the Redbird women was freshman Gina Kapusta, who sprinted to the finish line just behind Turilli for a fifth-place finish (14:53). Junior Kathleen Thompson came in ninth with a time of 15:03 and Sophomore Kim Ebbesen placed 11th clocking in at 15:07.
On the men's side, the Redbird performance was keyed by four freshmen including, Mroczynski, John Roberts, Luke Ryan and John Navarro. Mroczynski proved he is going to be a strong force for the Redbirds as he finished with a time of 18:26.88.
Sophomore Scott Krapf followed in behind Mroczynski for a third- place finish (18:28.02) and junior Mike Richardson finished the race in fifth with a time of 18:45.13. Roberts (19:13.34), Ryan (19:20.72) and Navarro (19:20.99) placed 14th, 17th and 18th, respectively.
"To see Matt (Mroczynski) finish so well in his first collegiate race was great," said Bovee. "I think that he has a desire to win and is really going to have an excellent career here at ISU.
"I was also really impressed by Luke Ryan and John Navarro. They ran a controlled and smart race, and I think the two of them are really going to run well together. It is neat to have such a strong freshmen group that is really going to boost our program."
The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams are scheduled to race at home Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. as they host the Illinois Intercollegiate at the University Golf Course.
