Oct. 26, 2009
ST. LOUIS -
With the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships set for Saturday, the league office has announced the Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll Monday. The Illinois State women's cross country team was picked to finish second, while the men's team was picked third.
"I am excited that both teams are in the hunt to win a Missouri Valley Conference championship," said head coach Jeff Bovee. "I think both groups have the talent and the ability to contend for the title. The Valley is tough and any given day there are probably three or four teams on each side that could win the championship."
The women's team has had a strong regular season with several different top runners crossing the finish line for the Redbirds. Junior Michelle Brunk will return to compete in the 2009 conference meet, after earning All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades with a 10th place finish at the 2008 meet.
"The women are hungry to get back on top of the Valley," said Bovee. "It is going to take an outstanding race from each one of our parts and putting it all together on the same day, which is something we haven't been able to do well since our home meet (Illinois Intercollegiate). We are going to need all eight women to put it out there, and if we do, I feel we have a good chance of winning. "
In the women's poll, the top two spots are separated by 11 points, with defending champion Wichita State picked as the favorite to win conference with 93 points, while Illinois State is picked to finish second with 82 points. Bradley was selected to finish third with 78 points, while Missouri State was tabbed to finish fourth with 71 points. Rounding out the women's poll was Southern Illinois (67), Indiana State (56), Northern Iowa (38), Drake (35), Creighton (16) and Evansville (14).
The Illinois State men's cross country will be led by the 2008 conference meet runner-up junior Matt Mroczynski, who ran the 8K race in 24:18.97. Senior Scott Krapf also earned All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades at last year's competition, while earning Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week on Sept. 22, for his part in the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships.
On the men's side, defending champion Southern Illinois was selected to win the conference with 80 points, followed by Indiana State with 73 points. The Illinois State men's team was tabbed to finish third with 63 votes. Rounding out the men's poll was Drake (43), Northern Iowa (42), Wichita State (38), Bradley (34), Evansville (21) and Creighton (11).
"On the men's side I think Southern (Illinois) and Indiana State are definitely the favorites," said Bovee. "We would have to run the meet of our season to have a chance at winning. However, I think that is very possible, especially after what I saw this weekend at the Illini Open. At the same time, Matt, Scott and Jon (Roberts) will need to be good, if not better than everybody else. The men have their work cut out for them, but I think they will be in the hunt. The last couple of years, we have been able to show that we are a contender, and these guys are going to be ready to go."
The 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill. The men's 8K race is set to begin at 10:30 a.m., while the women's 5K race will follow at 11:30 a.m.
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