Sept. 17, 2010
Final Results
NORMAL, Ill. - Seniors Jess Husted and Matt Mroczynski led the Illinois State women's and men's cross country teams to a second and fifth place finish, respectively, at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championship Friday at the Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University. Both Husted and Mroczynski finished the race in fifth place and were the first ISU runners across the finish line for the second time this season.
In the women's 5K race, in-state rival Northwestern won the championships with 35 points followed by Illinois State in second place with 66 points. Rounding out the top three was Illinois with 91 points. On the men's side, Illinois won the competition with 25 points followed by North Central (51) and Illinois-Chicago (132). The ISU men's team ended the meet with 175 points.
Husted crossed the finish line in 17:56. Junior Aisha Praught ended the race in 10th place with a time of 18:22, while senior Olivia Myers was close behind in 12th place (18:31). Chasing the upperclassmen was freshman Kristen Zillmer, who crossed the finish line in 15th place after an 18:36 run. In 25th place, sophomore Samantha Bluske finished the race in 18:51.
"I'm really excited about Husted," head cross country coach Jeff Bovee said. "She has really taken note and is trying to take charge of our team. She's a great leader, and I'm really excited for her to have started out so strong and confident. This is the most confident I have ever seen her run. "
Senior Kirsten Lang finished in 18:58 and in 31st place, while sophomore Brea Tinney finished the meet in 41st place with a time of 19:06. Freshman Ruth Allen crossed the finish line after a 19:16 run, while fellow freshman Annette White finished just behind her with a time of 19:19. Rounding out the Redbirds performance were freshmen Shannon Nemetz (19:32), Kim Christensen (19:42) and Megan Fry (19:46).
"I felt like the meet was a good building block for the women's team," Bovee said. "We found out where we are, especially with the women. I felt like our women attacked well with Praught and Myers running really strong at the front of the pack. I'm excited to see where the women's team can build to as the season goes on. I feel like we have a lot of room to grow."
Mroczynski led the field of Redbirds with a time of 24:57. Junior Jim Link was the second Redbird to cross the line with a time of 25:39, which put him in 19th-place. Sophomore Blake Brooks finished the race with a time of 26:30. Freshman Erik Stanton (27:03) and sophomore Steven Regan (27:15) crossed the finish line just seconds apart.
"Mroczynski had a strong race," said Bovee. "This is probably the best race he has had in his four years of competing in the Illinois Intercollegiate. Typically he builds as the season goes on and gets stronger and stronger. This will be a good stepping stone for him."
Freshmen Sean Sanf and Matthew Schacht rounded out the Redbird runners with times of 28:23 and 28:47, respectively.
The Redbirds will take the rest of the month off before returning to competition October 2nd at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky. The meet is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.
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