NORMAL, Ill. – In the first event of the season for much of the Illinois State cross country squads, both the women's and men's team placed third at their annual home tournament.
"We have a really good turnout every year," said director of track and field, head cross country coach Jeff Bovee when asked about the home meet. "To see the whole Redbird family come out here – the track and field athletes, the other student-athletes, the administrators – that is awesome."
Opening the afternoon with the women's side of the race, the Redbirds scored 65 team points, behind Butler (27), and Wartburg (40) and ahead of UNI (102), Eastern Illinois (137), Iowa's "B" squad (185), Illinois Springfield (212), SIUE (230), and Heartland CC (250).
Caroline Meyers was the top Redbird finisher, as the senior covered the 6,000-meters in a time of 21:52.3 – the third-best collegiate time at that distance for Meyers as she placed sixth overall. Claire Fuhlhage placed eighth, finishing the 3.7+ miles in 21:58.9, an average of 3:40 per kilometer. Ailey Mitchell finished 10th, giving ISU three runners inside of the top-10, in a time of 22:04.1, with Maddi Exline covered the course at the Weibring Golf Course in a time of 22:23.5, placing 16th.
"The women, we are solid through four," said Bovee. "We just need to fill a couple of gaps in the five and six area, and I think we will be in a good spot as we move forward."
Lauren Schulze surged over the final 2,000-meters to finish 26th in a time of 23:07.7 as the team's fifth runner. Freshman Maggie Reed – her second meet of the season – finished sixth for the Redbirds and 29th overall in a time of 23:14.2. Mattison Plummer was ISU's seventh runner, crossing the finish line in a time of 23:40.1. Mackenzie Brownrigg (43rd, 24:02.6), chased a spot inside of the team's top seven in the race.
On the men's side the Redbirds place third with 62 places among the team's top five finishers, finishing behind Wartburg (43) and Eastern Illinois (54). Illinois Springfield (65), Northern Iowa (163), SIUE (174), Iowa's "B" squad (179), and Heartland CC (179) all finished behind the 'Birds.
Baptiste Tardiveau led the way for the Redbirds, placing fifth in a time of 24:47.1 for the 8,000-meters, while countryman Mathis Chavand took second among ISU runners with a time of 25:06.2, placing ninth.
"I know Baptiste is not ecstatic about his race, but I think he felt pretty good about it," said Bovee. "There are a few areas in the middle of the race that he can work on, but 8k is a long way to race for a newcomer, moving up from three miles all the way to five – it's a big adjustment – and I thought he opened up well. He and Zack Loomis keyed off each other well early in the race, and then he let him go, and that is where he needs to work on and get better."
Loomis, a sophomore, ended in 16th place, covering the five miles in 25:31.7, his second-lowest 8,000-meter time of his collegiate cross country career. Yusuf Baig and Charlie Kistner finished back-to-back for the final two Redbird scorers – placing 18th and 19th – as Baig covered the 8k in 25:41.6 and Kistner 25:43.7. Each of ISU's top five runners are within their first two seasons of being a part of the Redbird program. Jeff Luka ran a time of 27:01.7 to finish 45th, to round out the six ISU runners in the field.
"We didn't have three of our top five guys out here running today, so that was a big hit," commented the Redbird head coach. "Those three have some little nagging things, and we want to save them up for later in the season. Obviously, we will be a much more competitive team when we get all of them back. I was happy with a lot of our young guys with how they stepped up today. Overall, I can tell you this is a better start than where we were last year, and I think we are going to be poised for a really good season run."
After taking next weekend off, ISU will head to Columbia, Missouri, to compete in the Gans Creek Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri – the host of the 2022 NCAA Midwest Regional.
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