Oct. 30, 2010
Complete Results
AUGUSTA, Kan. -
The Illinois State women's cross country team earned a trophy at the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships after finishing second in the 5K race with 68 points. The men's team took third place with 75 points in the 8K race at the RAFT Golf Course in Augusta, Kan.
Junior Aisha Praught covered the course in 17:47.89 and finished the race in seventh place to earn All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades for finishing in the top-10. Praught was the only Redbird runner to finish the race before the 18-minute mark. Senior Jess Husted just missed the top-10, as she crossed the finish line in 11th place with a time of 18:00.25.
"Aisha had the best race of her career today," head cross country coach Jeff Bovee said. "It was the first time Aisha has earned All-Valley honors in cross country. Our women also did a great job of executing our race plan. At the 3K point, it was a two-point race between us and Wichita. The last 2K, Wichita was a little stronger than us and they were able to pull away. Our women gave it a great effort, and it was one of our better races of the year."
Senior Olivia Myers finished the race in 18:04.98 for 14th place and was followed by sophomore Samantha Bluske, who ran the race in 18:06.37 for 15th place. Freshman Kristen Zillmer took 21st place with a time of 18:30.17, while senior Kirsten Lang ran the course in 18:43.10 and took 25th place.
Freshman Kimberly Christensen crossed the finish line in 19:17.00 for a 44th-place finish and was followed by sophomore Brea Tinney, who finished the race in 48th place with a time of 19:27.28.
In the women's race, Wichita State won the conference title with 54 points, while Missouri State took third with 82 points. Only two points separated Indiana State and Bradley, who finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.
On the men's side, seniors Matt Mroczynski and Jon Roberts finished the race in the top-10 to earn All-Valley honors. Mroczynski ran the race in 24:59.43 for sixth place, followed by Roberts, who crossed the finish line in seventh place with a time of 25:00.13.
"The guys had their best race of the year as a team," Bovee said. "We were seeded fourth coming into the meet, and we surpassed a lot of expectations. We think we had more in us, but the guys had an outstanding day. Having Jon back made a big difference. He ran the course well and it was the best race of his career."
Sophomore Blake Brooks covered the course in 25:25.53 for a 15th-place finish, while junior Jim Link ended the race in 25:42.01 for 20th place. Junior John Navarro finished the 8K race with a time of 26:15.87 and took 27th place. Sophomore Mat Smoody (26:53.47) and freshman Erik Stanton (27:03.68) finished the race in 40th and 44th place, respectively. Rounding out the Redbird line up was sophomore Steven Regan, who finished the race in 27:31.91.
Indiana State won the men's championship race with 25 points, while Southern Illinois finished second with 61 total points. Northern Iowa (87 points) and Drake (155 points) rounded out the top-five teams in the men's race.
The ISU men's and women's cross country teams will compete Nov. 13 at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Peoria, Ill.
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