NORMAL, Ill. — The Illinois State Cross Country team opens the 2025 season on August 29 at the Fighting Illini Invitational. Competition will begin with the women's 4k at 11 a.m. followed by the men's 6k at 11:30 a.m. at the University of Illinois Orange and Blue Golf Course in Savoy, Illinois.
"We haven't started the season at Illinois in a while. We usually head over to Iowa for the first meet of the year, but we decided to change it up and try something new," said Jeff Bovee, who is heading into his 19th season at the helm of the Redbird cross country program.
On Friday, athletes will race mostly on course fairways. The course will consist of two loops – the primary loop that weaves around a large portion of the golf course and a final straightaway to conclude the race. The University of Illinois Blue Golf Course was the site for the 2024 Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Six freshman (four women, two men) will be making their collegiate debuts on Friday for Illinois State, including Sophia Baumert, a four-time all-conference honoree in cross country in high school.
"I'm feeling very confident, hopeful and positive about this season," said Baumert. "The team camaraderie is nothing less than supportive, uplifting, determined and hardworking. We all blend together so well, and the returners have made our transition easy, fun and stress free."
HEAR MORE FROM COACH BOVEE
On the women's squad
"For the women, we are certainly much improved from last year, even though we're young. I expect them to make a jump in their conference and regional finish from last year. The incoming freshmen are a talented group. We have seven newcomers on the women's team, and we need a lot of our new student-athletes to come in and make an impact right away."
On the men's squad
"For the men, we don't have any of our top five runners returning. After one of the most successful seasons the men have ever had, we will be asking a lot of new guys to step up, especially late in the season at the MVC Championships and Regionals. We have a really strong sophomore class."
STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Sophia Baumert (Fr.) // Izzy Bing (Fr.) // Nora Brady (Jr.) // Cameron Crump (Fr.) // Brooke Zeibert (Fr.) // Colleen Zeibert (So.)
STARTING LINE – MEN
Luke Barham (So.) // Quinn Davis (Fr.) // Will Gelon (So.) // Owen O'Shea (So.) // Blake Oleson (Jr.) // Ethan Reynoso (Jr.) // Logan Scott (Fr.) // Garrett Slack ( Jr.) // Josh Weeks (So.)
