Sept. 30, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams will head to Louisville, Ky., for the ninth running of the Greater Louisville Classic, at the Tom Sawyer State Park. The four-race meet will kick-off with the Gold Division men's 8K and women's 5K races at 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. CST, respectively. The Blue Division races will begin with the men's 8K at 10 a.m. and the women's 5K race at 10:45 a.m.
"We are hoping to finish in the top-five on the women's side and the top-10 for the men in a field of 40 teams," said head cross country coach Jeff Bovee. "There are many highly-ranked teams nationally or regionally, and we are placing our focus on closing the gap between our No. 1 through No. 5 runners from our last outing."
Only 10 student-athletes for each school are allowed to compete in the Gold Division of the Greater Louisville Classic. The remaining participants will compete in the Blue Division.
The men's 8K will consist of three hills with over-all slight rolling terrain, while the women's 5K will have two hills and an over-all slight rolling terrain.
Running for the women's team will be freshmen Ruth Allen, Kimberly Christensen, Shannon Nemetz and Kristen Zillmer, along with Samantha Bluske and Brea Tinney and junior Aisha Praught. The Redbirds will be led by senior Jess Husted, Kirsten Lang and Olivia Myers. Megan Fry and Juliet Vogel will be competing in the Blue Division.
"The women need to stay engaged and focused mid-race, as that is where Northwestern got away from us two weeks ago," said Bovee. "The women closed the last mile well, but we need to be more confident in our strength and maintain our rhythm throughout the entire race."
Competing for the men will be freshmen Matt Schacht and Erik Stanton, sophomores Blake Brooks and Mat Smoody, juniors Jim Link and John Navarro and senior Matt Mroczynski.
"The men closed well at the Intercollegiate Championships, but we need to be more aggressive the first two miles, which will ultimately help us find our rhythm earlier in the race," said Bovee.
Illinois State will compete against Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois in both the men's and women's races.
"This meet has a very talented field of runners, and it should provide a good measuring stick of our progress since the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships (Sept. 17)," said Bovee. "We are focusing on one meet at a time."
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