NORMAL, Ill. – After a week off following the MVC Cross Country Championships, the Illinois State cross country teams are back in action this weekend at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 15 at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The women's 6K race begins at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 10K race following at 11:30 a.m. Admission is free.
ABOUT THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State will have six men and six women competing at Friday's meet. On the men's side Jack Anstey, Tyler Klouda, Jake Gillum, Lucas Capistrant, Tyler Polak and Riley Wells will race for the 'Birds.
For the Redbird women, Rachel Hickey, Grace Beattie, Kennidi Knoblock, Annie Moore, Phoebe Clowser and Mackenzie Brownrigg will race down in Stillwater.
Anstey, Hickey, Knoblock and Moore are the only four 'Birds that ran at last year's Midwest Regional in Peoria. Beattie, who redshirted last season, competed at the 2016 and 2017 Midwest Regionals, providing additional experience for the Illinois State women's team.
The Redbirds will look to Anstey to provide experience as the only ISU runner who's competed at the Midwest Regional for the men. Anstey is coming off a 18th-place finish at the MVC Championships, his best finish to date at the Valley meet and just three spots out of an honorable mention honor by the league.
At last year's regional, Anstey finished 69th overall, recording a time of 32:27.5 in the first 10K of his collegiate career.
Klouda and Gillum have alternated between spots No. 2 to No. 4 for ISU for much of the season with Gillum edging Klouda at the MVC Championships with a 35th-place finish, while Klouda crossed the finish line in 37th.
Completing the regionals line-up for the 'Birds are Capistrant, Wells and Polak. The trio ran as a pack at the Valley Championships, finishing 40th, 42nd and 44th, respectively. All three join Gillum and Klouda in running the first 10K of their collegiate careers.
The Redbird women have been led by Hickey and Beattie this season, who have traded off the first and second spot for Illinois State throughout the 2019 campaign.
Hickey finished eighth for the second-straight season at the MVC Championships, earning all-conference honors. Running in her second NCAA Midwest Regional, Hickey is looking to improve upon last year's 69th-place finish where she clocked in at a personal-best 21:46.6.
Beattie will be racing in the third cross country regional of her career on Friday, where she looks to build off her 6K performance at the Bradley Pink Classic. The Woodstock, Illinois, native ran a personal-best time of 21:26.0, an improvement of nearly 21 seconds from her previous best time set at the 2017 NCAA Midwest Regional.
Also providing experience at the regional meet are seniors Knoblock and Moore. Knoblock has raced at the last two regional competitions for the 'Birds, recording her best finish at last year's meet with a personal-best time of 22:21.5.
Moore competed in her first regional meet last season, finishing in a time of 22:25.0, which still stands as her personal-best time despite coming within a second of breaking it at the Bradley Pink Classic earlier this year.
Completing the regionals team for the Redbird women are Clowser and Brownrigg, who are both competing in the first NCAA Midwest Regional of their careers.
FIRST TIME OUT
Five of the six Redbirds competing in the men's 10K will be racing the first 10K of their collegiate careers. Klouda, Polak and Wells, who are all newcomers to Illinois State cross country join sophomore Capistrant and junior Gillum competing at the first NCAA Midwest Regional of their careers.
Joining the four Redbird men in their first NCAA Midwest Regional are senior Clowser and freshman Brownrigg for the women.
OSU CROSS COUNTRY COURSE
Oklahoma State unveiled a new, state-of-the-art cross country course earlier this year. The course was completely sodded and consists of just under one million square feet of Astro Bermuda grass. Carved throughout wooded areas and prairie with varying elevations, the course was also widened to 10-plus meters throughout and the new starting straightaway is 850 meters. The straightaway to the finish box is designed with mounds on each side of the course to offer a view from above, as well as views of multiple race areas.
LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL
The Illinois state men finished ninth as a team, recording their best regional finish in 17 years behind the All-Region performance of Kyle Mattes, who went on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships with his eighth-place finish overall at the regional meet.
Kevin Koski, who is redshirting this cross country season, was the next Redbird to finish for the men, placing 49th overall. Cody Baele, Anstey and Kimathi Johnson (redshirting this season), concluded the scoring for Illinois State, running as a pack and finishing 64th, 69th and 77th overall.
Hickey, Knoblock and Moore went 2-3-4 for the 'Birds at last year's regional. Hickey's 69th-place finish is the top returning finish for the Redbird women with Knoblock and Moore finishing 120th and 125th, respectively, last year.
ILLINOIS STATE MIDWEST REGIONAL HISTORY
Illinois State has had 14 total All-Region honors earned by its student-athletes with nine men and five women having received the honor. The most recent Redbird to earn All-Region honors was Kyle Mattes who earned the honor in back-to-back seasons.
Mattes was the first Redbird to finish with All-Region honors in back-to-back years since 2013-14 when Ryan Rutherford accomplished the feat.
On the women's side, Rachael Brewer was the last Redbird to garner All-Region honors, finishing 19th overall at the 2012 Midwest Regional.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans who can't make the trip down to Stillwater can follow live results at bit.ly/xcmidwestregional or follow Illinois State cross country on Twitter (@redbird_trackxc), Instagram (redbird_trackxc) or Facebook (facebook.com/redbirdsTF).
