Redbird XC to Compete at NCAA Midwest Regional

NORMAL, Ill. — The Illinois State Cross Country squad travels to Stillwater, Okla., to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday. Competition on the Greiner Family Oklahoma State Cross Country Course begins with the women's 6k at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 10k at 11:30 a.m. Races will be broadcast live on ESPN Plus, and results will be updated on live.pttiming.com.

LAST TIME OUT
The Illinois State women's cross country team placed third, and the men placed fourth out of 11 schools at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 31. The Redbird women scored 90 team points, trailing Bradley (15) and Indiana State (85). The Redbird men tallied 111 team points behind Bradley (49), UIC (74) and Belmont (89).

ISU AT REGIONALS

• The men's squad earned fourth place at last year's NCAA Midwest Regional, the highest finish since 2001. 
• The women's team placed 19th at Regionals in 2024.
• Last season, graduate William Sinclair earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships after his ninth-place finish in the 10k at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.
• Sinclair was the 25th men's runner in ISU history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

SCOUTING THE MIDWEST REGION

• On the women's side, Iowa State and Oklahoma State are the projected automatic qualifiers from the Midwest Region, with Northwestern, Missouri and Minnesota in the hunt.
• For the men, Iowa State and Oklahoma State are also projected to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Tulsa, Oklahoma and Loyola Chicago are other strong contenders.

AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION
There are nine different regions, and two teams from each region automatically qualify for the upcoming 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Columbia, Mo. The NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee will then choose 14 at-large teams to fill out the 32-team field. As for individual selections, the first four finishers who do not belong to an automatic qualifier or an at-large team automatically advance to the championships. All four finishers have to finish in the top 25 within their region. Altogether, 36 individuals automatically qualify and two are chosen at-large.

HEAR FROM ASST. COACH JAKE GILLUM
"Going to a regional field where it's a lot more spread out adds a bit of a different challenge. We have very young teams on both sides, so getting to race against some of the top teams in the NCAA adds another element to the race. I'm excited to see how they respond to that because going to probably the best course in the country and racing against the best runners in the country is what you dream about as a young cross country runner. I think if they carry that out with some pride, it could be a pretty good day."

STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Nora Brady (Jr.) // Cameron Crump (Fr.) // Maggie Reed (Sr.) // Vivianna Sanfilippo (5th Yr.) // Pauline Schedler (Fr.) // Astrid Van Breedam (So.) // Colleen Zeibert (So.)

STARTING LINE – MEN
Julian Baker (So.) // Luke Barham (So.) // Will Gelon (So.) // Blake Oleson (Jr.) // Logan Scott (Fr.)  // Kane Shields (Jr.) // Cayde de Waal (Jr.)