MADISON, Wis.—The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams opened up its first contest of the 2014 campaign at the Wisconsin Badger Opener Friday, evening at the Zimmer cross country course with a third-place finish for the men and a fifth-place women's finish.
The men totaled 94 points, with Loyola finishing just ahead of the men's squad at 50 points. Host school Wisconsin won the team competition on both the men's and women's side with 20 and 22 points, respectively. The Redbird women finished in fifth-place with 141 points.
   
Jeff Bajema led the Redbird men, hanging with the lead pack through 4,000-meters. Bajema finished 16th overall with a 6K time of 18:45. Jesse Hahne was next to cross the line for the Redbirds, finishing with a time of 18:55, also claiming a top-20 spot.
"On the men's side, for the most part, it was a lot of our younger athletes," director of track and field and cross country Jeff Bovee said. "The guys looked a little more ready to go out and compete. Bajema was in the lead pack for quite some time. He got dropped, but then fought right back. He learned a lot about himself today, which is one of the main reasons we came here. We also wanted to give the team a chance to see where they were at and develop a little bit more confidence in themselves."
 Aidan Askin was the third Redbird across the line, finishing 27th in the 78-man field with a 6,000m time of 19:09. In his first race as a Redbird, true freshman Joe Singleton finished with a 6K time of 19:27 to place 36th, and rounding out the Redbird top-five was Brendan Hoskins who finished in 19:32.
Ryan Bybee clocked a 6K time of 19:44, while redshirt freshman Wes Ward finished with a time of 19:52 and Paul Steeno 20:01.
On the women's side, senior Kim Christensen captained the Redbird women, finishing 26th in a field of 108 women and clocking a 4,000m time of 14:55. Kimi Sanden and true freshman Sydney Billingsley were the next Redbirds across the line, finishing neck-and-neck at 15:18 and 15:19, respectively.
Ashley Kamin clocked a time of 15:27, while Ashley England rounded out the Redbird top-five with a time of 15:38. Kamin finished in 46th and England was 53rd. Kaley Ummel crossed the line at 16:06, and in her first race in the Redbird uniform, Lindsey Lewis posted a 4K time of 16:23.
The Redbirds are back in action next Friday, as they are set to host the second-annual Country Financial Illinois State Invite. Admission is free and Redbird fans are encouraged to come and watch the ISU squads in their only home meet of the year. Race time is set for 5 p.m. at Weibring Golf Course.
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