NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Picked to finish third on the women's side and fourth on the men's side, the Illinois State cross country teams take on the rest of the field at the 2023 MVC Championships, hosted at the Vaugh's Gap at Warner Park by Belmont University.
The women's 6,000-meter race begins at 10:00 a.m. (CT), while the men's 8,000-meter race goes off an hour later.
THE FIELD
There will be a dozen schools competing in the women's cross country championship, and 11 on the men's, including Belmont (M/W), Bradley (M/W), Drake (M/W), Evansville (M/W), Illinois State (M/W), Indiana State (M/W), Missouri State (W), Murray State (M/W), Northern Iowa (M/W), Southern Illinois (M/W), UIC (M/W), Valparaiso (M/W).
PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS
Heading into the 2023 Championship, the Redbird women are projected to finish third, with Belmont picked by the conference coaches to take home the MVC crown. Belmont earned 14 poll points, with Drake picking up 34 and Illinois State picking up 36. Bradley's 47 poll points is fourth, while Southern Illinois rounds out the predicted top five with 60 points.
On the men's side, Drake is picked to finish first with 13 poll points, trailing is Bradley (27), Belmont (31), and Illinois State with (40). UIC rounds out the top five with (59) poll points.
LAST TIME AT THE EVENT
At the 2022 MVC Championships, hosted by Indiana State, the Redbird women placed fourth while the men finished third.Â
The top individual returner for the women was Claire Fuhlhage. Fuhlage took 28th to lead ISU, while Lauren Schulze and Kaitlin Skeate finished 30th and 46th.
For the men, Mathis Chavand paced the squad by finishing 9th, with Baptiste Tardiveau taking 13th. In the top-15 was Zack Loomis, while Charlie Wetzel took 26th.
ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – WOMEN
// Grace Erb (Fr.) // Claire Fuhlhage (Gr.) // Viviana Sanflippo (Jr.) // Colleen Zeibert (Fr.) // Maggie Reed (So.) // Mattison Plummer (Jr.) // Lauren Schulze (Jr.) // Kaitlin Skeate (Jr.) //
ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – MEN
// Yusuf Baig (So.) // Mathis Chavand (r-Jr.) // Ethan Reynoso (Fr.) // Zack Loomis (Jr.) // Dylan Myers (Fr.) // Baptiste Tardiveau (Sr.) // Charlie Wetzel (Jr.) // Nick Doud (Gr.) // Blake Oleson (Fr.) //
FOLLOW LIVE
Keep track of the Redbirds at the MVC Championship on Friday morning by clicking the link HERE. Watch here
UP NEXT
After a week off the Redbirds travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to compete in the 2023 NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by the University of Oklahoma State.
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