PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois State cross country had 11 runners record personal-best times at its regular season finale at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday afternoon at the Newman Golf Course.
Finishing ninth as a team in the men's red race, the Redbirds were led by junior Jack Anstey, who placed 14th overall with a time of 24:45.8. Sophomore Matt Blanco was the second Illinois State runner to cross the finish line, crushing his previous personal-best time by nearly 40 seconds to place 31st overall with a time of 25:02.3.
"Definitely one the highlights on the men's side today was Matt Blanco," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee said. "That was a big, big personal-best and a big breakthrough for him. He's been putting together some good training these last few weeks and all of that is sticking pretty well right now."
Also setting new personal bests were freshmen Tyler Polak and Jacob Gray. Polak ran a time of 25:58.5 to finish in the top-100. Gray's time of 26:13.3 placed him at 104th overall.
"Some young guys on the back end either had personal bests or close to it," Bovee said. "We need to get a couple more down in that low 25 for us to get where we need to be in the next few weeks. We definitely aren't pleased with our team finish overall, but I'm not concerned about where we're going to be in the next few weeks."
The Illinois State women finished sixth as a team in the red race with redshirt-junior Grace Beattie leading the 'Birds. Beattie was one of six Redbird women in the red race to record a personal-best time, clocking in at 21:25.9 for a 21-second improvement, placing her 12th overall.
"We haven't had a race where everyone has had their best showing all at the same time yet (on the women's side) and I think that's something we need to be able to put together here in the postseason," Bovee said. "We'll come away from this hungry for the next opportunity."
ISU's fifth through ninth finishers all ran the best 6K times of their careers in Peoria.
"I was really happy with what our numbers four through nine were able to run today," Bovee said.
ISU's fifth and sixth runners both shaved 31 seconds off their 6K times. Senior Phoebe Clowser, the fifth runner to finish for ISU, posted a time of 22:32.0 to place 61st overall, while senior Hattie Plumb ran a 22:40.9 to finish 71st overall.
"Phoebe Clowser had a great day and Annie Moore ran particularly well," Bovee said. "I was also really pleased with Hattie (Plumb). That's probably the best cross country race she's ever had especially over a 6K, as a middle-distance runner. That's a long race for her, but I really felt like she stayed engaged quite well."
Freshmen Kylie Hagmann and Mackenzie Brownrigg each cut over a minute off of their times, while sophomore Maddi Exline saw an improvement of 53 seconds to round out the final three finishers for Illinois State in the red race.
The four women competing in the white race also ran strong races. ISU's top two finishers notched top-25 performances in the first 6K of their collegiate careers. Freshman Kendy Ummel finished 20th with a time of 23:43.7 and redshirt-freshman Natalie Sparreo placed 24th with a time of 23:59.2.
Freshman Paige Arseneau cut nearly a minute and a half from her first 6K time, clocking in at 24:08.8 for a 26th-place finish in the women's white race. Not far behind was senior Mariah Brodie with a 28th-place finish, clocking in at personal-best time of 24:12.7 for an improvement of more than 90-seconds.
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UP NEXT
The 'Birds will race at the Bulldog Invite on Friday, Oct. 25 in Carmel, Indiana. The first race is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.
