Sept. 10, 2011
Women's 5K Results
| Men's 8K Results
DEKALB, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's cross country team finished second-place at the Northern Illinois Open, being edged out by Saint Louis University 30-40. The women's team only ran four runners and did not compete in the team competition.
Freshman Ryan Rutherford paced the Redbirds to their runner-up performance, finishing third overall with a time of 27:03.05. Senior John Navarro ran to an eighth-place finish (27:33.31) and freshman Andrew Sandoval (27:38.08) rounded out the top-ten.
On a tough, hilly 8K course, freshmen Jake Trancoso (27:39.98), Griffin Nykaza (27:42.44) and Wade Reeves (28:02.48) stuck together, crossing the finish line 11, 12 and 13.
Head coach Elvis Forde was pleased with the overall performance from the men's team.
"We went out there today with a game-plan, and they executed it fairly well," Forde said. "This was the first time the freshmen raced the 8K distance, and to do it on such a hilly course and finish second, that was pretty impressive. They paced themselves a little slower the first mile than I wanted, but definitely looked a lot better than last week."
With the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships this week, the women's team only ran four. Sophomore Kristen Zillmer headed the 5K race for the Redbirds, finishing 23rd (19:46.37). Classmate Ruth Allen (20:01.58) and freshman Ashley Kamin (20:01.98) crossed the line side-by-side, finishing 27th and 28th, respectively. Sophomore Shannon Nemetz rounded out the the ISU four, finishing with a time of 20:42.82.
"It was very important for Zillmer and Nemetz to get a race under their belts before our home meet," said Forde. "You can train and train and train, but there is nothing like racing to evaluate where you are at. I was also impressed with the performance of Kamin and Allen. This was a tough course, and they made great strides from last week and looked good."
The Redbirds are back in action Friday, September 16, as they host the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships.
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