NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State cross country team is set to open up the 2020-21 season on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Lipscomb Winter Classic at Percy Winter Park in Nashville, Tennessee. The men's 8K will begin at 12 p.m. with the women's 5K following at 1 p.m.
RETURN TO THE COURSE
Illinois State will compete at a cross country meet for the first time in 449 days with their last competition occurring on Nov. 15, 2019 at the NCAA Midwest Regional. It has been even longer (820 days) for ISU seniors Kimathi Johnson and Kevin Koski, who are coming off of a redshirt season in 2019.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Redbirds will race against six other teams, including Missouri Valley Conference competitors Bradley and Loyola. Bradley, who won the men's team title, returns All-Valley performer Jack Franklin and All-Valley Honorable Mention performer Drew Wegner from their 2019 championship team. On the women's side, the Braves will be led by All-Conference runners, McKenzie Altmayer and Tyler Schwartz, who led the team to a second-place conference finish last year. The Loyola women's team, who won the 2019 MVC Championship, brings back all but one of their All-Valley performers from last season, including Anneka Murrin, Mimi Reimers, Tarynn Cullings and Kathleen Sims who finished 1-2-3-4 at the MVC Championships a year ago. Belmont, Butler, Bellarmine and host team Lipscomb will also have student-athletes competing.
RETURNERS TO WATCH FOR
ISU returns two-time MVC All-Conference performer Rachel Hickey, who finished eighth as both a freshman and sophomore for the women's team. The men's squad returns two All-Valley Honorable Mention performers in Kimathi Johnson (14th // 2018) and Matt Blanco (11th // 2019), who will look to make an impact for the Redbirds. Grace Beattie (5K Champion) and Kevin Koski (third place // 3K & third place // 5K) will also look to be leaders for Illinois State's cross country squads with both student-athletes having had success on the track last season.
FRESH FACES
Four women and three men will be making their collegiate cross country debuts for the Redbirds. Emma Argo, who competed in indoor track & field last season, redshirted the 2019 cross country season and will complete a cross country race as a Redbird for the first time this weekend. Freshmen Ailey Lindemann-Mitchell and Ashley Heagy competed in the 3K on the track last month at the Jack Jennett Open, but along with freshman Rachel Patterson, will run the first 5K of their collegiate careers tomorrow. On the men's side, Nebraska transfer Andrew Englert will join freshmen Charlie Wetzel and Luke Manolakes in their first 8K for ISU.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans are not allowed to attend the Lipscomb Winter Classic, but can follow live results here and get live coverage of the meet on Twitter at @redbird_trackxc.
UP NEXT
The next race for the cross country squad isn't until Wednesday, March 3 where the 'Birds will compete for a conference title at the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships in Evansville, Indiana. Following this weekend, the track & field team will be back in action on Feb. 12-13 at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan.
In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to be in attendance at home ISU Athletics events. Game dates, opponents, times and locations are subject to change.
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