NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's cross country team will open their 2022 seasons on Thursday afternoon, as the squad will compete at the 2022 Illini Challenge, hosted by the University of Illinois Illini.
The women's 5,000-meter race begins at 5 p.m., with the men's 6,000-meter race starting just after.
COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Three Redbirds – Yusuf Baig, Garrett Slack, and Maggie Reed – will be making their collegiate debuts in the two-school event.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Illinois State women's cross country team was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, while the men's cross country program was selected to finish third and earned one first-place vote, as announced by the conference.
The Illinois State women return six of their top seven runners and will look to build off last year's third place finish at the MVC Championships. Junior Ailey Mitchell leads the way, as she earned All-MVC First-Team honors at the championship race with an eighth-place finish in a time of 21:27.3, the tenth-fastest time in Illinois State school history. Seniors Caroline Meyers and Rachel Hickey placed 13th and 14th, respectively, to earn All-MVC Honorable Mention honors.
The Redbird men, who won the MVC Cross Country title during the 2020-21 season, have a strong group returning and are looking to capitalize on the depth of the roster. Charlie Wetzel and Matt Blanco each return to the Redbirds roster after finishing among the top-15 and earning All-MVC Honorable Mention honors at the 2021 MVC Championships. Additionally, the team welcomes five newcomers.
ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Jenna Gruber (So.) // Mattison Plummer (So.) // Maggie Reed (Fr.) // Lauren Schulze (So.)
ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – MEN
Yusuf Baig (Fr.) // Julian Head (So.) // Zack Loomis (So.) // Connor Murphy (So.) // Harris Porter (r-Sr.) // Garrett Slack (Fr.)
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Live results will be available HERE.
UP NEXT
The Redbird squad returns to action on Friday, September 16 with the yearly Redbird Invite, hosted at the Weibring Golf Course, starting at 5 p.m.
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