NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Cross Country team is set to host the annual Redbird Invite on Friday at the Weibring Golf Course. The event begins at 9 a.m. with the men's 8,000-meter race. The women's 6,000-meter race will follow at 9:45 a.m.
SEASON OPENER
The Redbirds opened the season on Aug. 29 at the Fighting Illini Invite. The men's and women's teams each placed fourth. Junior transfer Nora Brady led the Redbird women with a sixth-place finish, while freshman Quinn Davis crossed the line in 13th to lead the men. Davis was one of five Redbirds who made their collegiate debuts. Five Redbirds also set personal-best times.
THE FIELD
Six teams are coming to the Redbird Invite, including fellow Missouri Valley Conference member Northern Iowa, Wartburg, Southeastern Missouri State, Illinois Wesleyan, Western Illinois and Chicago State. The Wartburg men's team ranks second in the Division III National Coaches' Poll, while the women's squad sits in 21st.
SUCCESS AT HOME
The Redbird men's and women's squads have swept the Redbird Invite the last two seasons. Sophomores Astrid Van Breedam (5th) and Julian Baker (16th) are the highest-finishing returners from last season's event.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JEFF BOVEE
On the women's squad:
"There were a few cracks in execution a couple weeks ago. The effort was great, but it's more about our team racing. We split apart pretty early, so we want to learn to become more of a pack racing group and try to keep finish times at a much smaller margin than two weeks ago."
On the men's squad:
"The men need to work on a lot of the same things as the women. Since we're moving to 8,000 meters, we want to stick together through at least 5,000 meters. We should find out a lot more about ourselves this weekend. Everyone who is available and healthy will be racing. There's also some steep competition this weekend. Wartburg is super deep on the men's side. But, we're focused less on what everybody else is doing and more focused on becoming a better team racing group and getting better each time out."
STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Sophia Baumert (Fr.) // Nora Brady (Jr.) // Cameron Crump (Fr.) // Maggie Reed (Sr.) // Pauline Schedler (Fr.) // Brooke Zeibert (Fr.) // Colleen Zeibert (So.)
STARTING LINE – MEN
Julian Baker (So.) // Luke Barham (So.) // Quinn Davis (Fr.) // Will Gelon (So.) // Blake Oleson (Jr.) // Logan Scott (Fr.) // Kane Shields (Jr.) // Cayde De Waal (Jr.) // Josh Weeks (So.)
