NORMAL, Ill. – The long-awaited Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships are finally here with Illinois State set to compete for another conference title on Wednesday, March 3 at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course. The MVC Championships, hosted by Evansville, will begin with the women's 5K race at 12 p.m., followed by the men's 8K at 12:45 p.m. Fans will not be allowed to attend.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
There will not be a broadcast or live results link available, but fans can follow @redbird_trackxc on Twitter for updates from the 2020-2021 MVC Cross Country Championships.
ABOUT THE REDBIRDS
With only one cross country meet under their belts this season, the Redbirds will rely heavily on their upperclassmen in their pursuit of an MVC Cross Country title. The Illinois State men's team will seek their 10th MVC Cross Country title and first since 2002, while the women's team will go for their eighth cross country conference title and first since 2012.
Coming off of a redshirt season in 2019, senior Kevin Koski will look to lead the men's team posting the top time in the Valley this season, completing the 8K in 24:23.6 to place fifth at the Lipscomb Winter Classic. Koski finished 20th overall at the 2018 MVC Championships and is seeking his first All-Valley performance and MVC title. A win by Koski tomorrow would give the men's team their first MVC Champion since 2009 when Scott Krapf took first.
The 'Birds will have two All-Valley Honorable Mention performers race tomorrow, with Kimathi Johnson placing 14th in 2018 and Matt Blanco finishing 11th in 2019. Johnson, who is also coming off of a redshirt season in 2019, has made great improvements since the start of his cross country career and will look to place in the top-10 for the first time.
Seniors Jack Anstey and Jake Gillum, who are both MVC Champions on the track, will also provide experience for the men's squad with the duo competing at their fourth and third conference cross country championships.
Illinois State's young women's team will be led by redshirt-senior Grace Beattie and junior Rachel Hickey. Beattie recently ran her best time in a Redbird uniform at the Lipscomb Winter Classic earlier this season, placing fifth with a time of 17:34.6 in the 5K. The Woodstock, Illinois native is a two-time MVC champion on the track and will look to earn her first All-Valley honors and MVC championship in cross country tomorrow. Should Beattie take the title, she would be the first Redbird to win an individual MVC cross country title since Rachael Brewer in 2013.
Hickey has finished eighth, earning All-MVC honors, at each of the last two MVC Cross Country Championships and will look to continue her streak in the top-10 on Wednesday.
LOOKING BACK AT THE 2019 MVC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Then-sophomores Rachel Hickey and Matt Blanco led Illinois State at the 2019 MVC Cross Country Championships, finishing eighth and 11th overall to earn All-MVC and All-MVC Honorable Mention honors. The honors were the second of Hickey's career and the first for Blanco.
In addition to her All-MVC honor, Hickey was also awarded the MVC Elite 17 Award which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC's 17 team championships. Hickey, who is a double-major in Marketing and Journalism has a 4.0 cumulative grade point average.
ANGEL MOUNDS CROSS COUNTRY COURSE
Angel Mounds Cross Country Course was designed and built by UE head coach Don Walters and officially opened for collegiate competition in 2014. This will be the second time since 2015 that Evansville has hosted the MVC Cross Country Championships.
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