Nov. 14, 2009
Final Stats
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -
The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams competed in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on the Missouri State Cross Country Course Saturday. The men finished the 10K race with 333 points and in 12th place, while the women completed the race in 13th place with 332 points.
"On the men's side, we finished in 12th," said head coach Jeff Bovee. "Freshmen Blake Brooks, Kevin Forde, and Mat Smoody ran well today, which was great to see them perform well in their first regional competition."
Senior Scott Krapf was the first Redbird runner to cross the finish line for the men's team. Krapf finished the course in 31:33.3, which put him in 23rd place. Junior Matt Mroczynski finished the race in 54th place with a time of 32:36.6, while Brooks crossed the finish line in 33:29.4 for 80th place. Forde covered the 10K course in 33:39.50. Rounding out the top-five runners for the Redbirds was junior Jon Roberts, who ran a 34:03.0.
"Jon was our top guy going into the 3K section of the race, but another runner stepped on his foot and tripped him," said Bovee. "Jon was one of four guys who fell during the race, which caused him to lose his position in the fall. Jon's fall had a large impact on the team. The men's team hasn't quite put all the pieces together, and I thought we would be able to do that today."
On the women's side, junior Sarah Glowacki was the first women's runner to cross the finish line in a time of 21:56.9 finishing the race in 43rd place. Freshman Samantha Bluske ran a 22:40.5 and finished the race in 73rd place. Juniors Olivia Myers (22:48.3) and Kirsten Lang (22:48.7) took 77th and 78th place, respectively, while junior Jess Husted completed the 6K course in 23:17.2.
"Sarah, Samantha and Olivia were the standouts on the women's team today," said Bovee. "Olivia finishing as our third runner today was great to see. She had a strong day today. On the women's side, we needed more help from the women in the back spots since we were running without Aisha Praught and Michelle Brunk. We will need to continue to train hard and get ready for the track season."
The Redbird men's and women's cross country teams entered Saturday's contest ranked No. 13 and 11, respectively, in the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Rankings, as voted on by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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