STILLWATER, Okla. – Illinois State cross country junior Jack Anstey posted the top performance for the Redbirds at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday at the new OSU Cross Country Course.
"It was a very challenging course," said Director of Track & Field/ Cross Country Jeff Bovee. "The men's 10K course was super hilly, much more challenging than the course we ran last year for the regional so anybody getting a PR (personal-record) I think says a lot."
Anstey, who raced just the second 10K of his collegiate career, clocked in at a personal-best 31:59.3, which is a 28-second improvement from his time at last year's Midwest Regional, to place 46th overall.
"For him to come out and build some momentum going into track season was a really nice thing to see," Bovee said. "He put together one of his best races of the season outside of probably our home meet."
The other five Redbird men completed the first 10K of their careers with junior Jake Gillum leading the charge of regional newcomers. Gillum placed 96th overall and second for the 'Birds with a time of 32:49.4.
Illinois State's remaining four runners were all underclassmen and finished within 12 spots of one another. Freshman Tyler Polak notched his best finish on the team, crossing the finish line third for Illinois State and 131st overall with a time of 33:32.7.
"Outside of Jack we have five of our six guys running their first 10K and their first regional meet," Bovee said. "They packed it up. Their race execution couldn't have been better."
Freshman Tyler Klouda, sophomore Lucas Capistrant and freshman Riley Wells all completed the race in the top-150. Klouda (137th) and Capistrant (140th) clocked in within just over four seconds of each other with Klouda finishing in 33:43.2 and Capistrant clocking in at 33:47.9 to round out the scoring for ISU. Wells finished 143rd overall with a time of 33:56.9.
"I think they all moved up well from where they were at the halfway point to where they finished," Bovee said. "For such a young group of guys, I couldn't have been more pleased with where they finished. Obviously, not having Blanco was a big hit for us, but compared to how we ran at the Valley, we had our best group effort of the season."
As a team, the Redbird men finished 18th out of 27 teams with 529 points.
On the women's side, redshirt-junior Grace Beattie was the top finisher for the Redbirds, placing 80th overall with a time of 22:18.7. Beattie's 80th-place finish is her best finish at an NCAA Midwest Regional in her career.
Sophomore Rachel Hickey crossed the finish line next for the 'Birds, coming in at 91st overall, just seven seconds behind Beattie at 22:25.6.
Following Illinois State's two leading runners was the senior duo of Kennidi Knoblock and Annie Moore who finished 154th and 156th, respectively. Knoblock and Moore clocked in within two seconds of each other with times of 23:24.7 and 23:26.7.
Rounding out the scoring for ISU was senior Phoebe Clowser, who finished 181st with a time of 23:54.4 in her first NCAA Midwest Regional. Freshman Mackenzie Brownrigg placed 209th overall with a time of 24:45.4.
The women's team finished 22nd out of 33 teams with 645 points.
"Our women's finish was disappointing," Bovee said. "22nd is not what our program has been all about, but I think a lot of that is just the inconsistency all season long. We got ourselves out where we needed to be at the start, but we lost focus as the race went on. We just didn't finish where we had hoped to be."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds kick off the 2019-20 indoor track & field season at the EIU Early Bird on Friday, Dec. 6 in Charleston, Illinois.
