MEN'S RESULTS /Â WOMEN'SÂ RESULTSÂ
IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams received strong performances from freshman Scott Anderson and sophomore Dakota Roman in the teams' season debut at the Hawkeye Invitational Friday.
Despite competing with a condensed squad, the ISU men were able to take down Creighton and fellow MVC opponent Drake in head-to-head action. They were led by Anderson, who was the first Redbird to cross the finish line and placed 18th overall with a time of 18:31.80 in his Illinois State debut.
"Scott Anderson had a very strong debut," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jeff Bovee. "After a controlled first 3K, Scott moved well through the field during the second half of the race. He is going to be a key part of our team as the season progresses, and I was very pleased with his race."
Thomas Thornton and Connor Ehnle were not far behind, finishing 31st and 32nd, respectively. Thornton crossed the finish line at the 19:01.00 mark, with Ehnle following not even a second after. Ethan Kirk and Colton Bell rounded out the scoring for the Redbirds.
"Overall, the men started the season well, and I look forward to getting a bigger share of the roster to the line next week," continued Bovee.
The women, whose best performance came from Roman, walked away from the Hawkeye Invitational with a head-to-head victory over MVC-foe, Drake. Roman led the Redbirds at the Hawkeye Invitational for the second-consecutive season, finishing 11th overall with a time of 14:27.50 after placing 12th in 2016.
"Dakota closed the last 1K as well as anyone in the field," Bovee said. "She was a bit too conservative early, but she now walks away hungry to put herself near the front at home next week."
Sydney Billingsley also made her presence known, as she was the second Redbird to cross the finish line at the 14:55.80 mark, finishing 23rd overall. Kennidi Knoblock, Annie Moore, and Sarah Voss completed the top-five finishers for ISU.
"We had strong season debuts by Knoblock, Billingsley, Moore, and Voss, although I was hoping for a smaller one-five gap," explained Bovee. "This group will benefit tremendously from a few more races, and we will see significant gains over the next eight weeks."
Both the men's and women's squads will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 8 when they host the annual Illinois State Invite at the Weibring Golf Course. The women's 5K is slated to begin at 5 p.m., with the men's 8K to follow at 5:45 p.m. Fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on the Redbirds!Â
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