Sept. 25, 2007
NEW ORLEANS -
The Illinois State women's cross country team moved up three spots to No. 12, while the Illinois State men's cross country team remained at No. 13 in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Midwest Regional Rankings Monday, as announced by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Head coach Jeff Bovee believes that the team has shown improvement so far this season and continues to improve with each race.
"We have to prove ourselves at every race and that is what we are going to do all year," said Bovee. "Our women's squad is very competitive, and I think the polls reflected that this week. We have only a 27-second gap from our first to seventh runner, which shows our depth."
In the past two weeks since the last polls were released, the Redbird men's and women's cross country teams have been busy. ISU hosted the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships (Sept. 14), competing against 22 schools from around the state of Illinois. ISU men placed third, while the ISU women placed second behind nationally-ranked No. 7 Illinois.
The Redbirds were also in action last weekend at the Saluki Invitational (Sept. 22), hosted by Southern Illinois. The Redbird men placed sixth and the women placed fifth.
Illinois State is not the only school in the Missouri Valley Conference gaining recognition. On the men's side, The Valley is also represented in the Midwest region by Southern Illinois (No. 10), Drake (No. 11), Bradley (No. 15) and in the Great Lakes region by Indiana State (No. 11). Wichita State is ranked No. 7 in the women's Midwest region poll as well as Missouri State (No. 9) and Northern Iowa (No. 13).
The Redbird cross country teams will be on the road Friday, Sept. 28, as they will compete at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. The women's 5K will begin at 2:00 p.m., and the men's 8K will follow at 2:45 p.m.
