NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State cross country team posted a strong showing at the Redbird Invite at Weibring Golf Course on Friday morning. The women's team earned first in the 6k race for the third straight season, while the men finished runner-up in the 8k. Friday's competition featured athletes from Illinois Wesleyan, Western Illinois, Northern Illinois, Chicago State, Southeastern Missouri State and Wartburg.
Junior transfer Cayde de Waal finished fifth with a time of 24:44.6 to lead the men in his Redbird debut.
"With guys that are quicker than me, I'm still finding where I should be, who I can help and where I can help," said de Waal. "It wasn't a bad opener, but I feel like I could've done a bit more for the team. That's just something I can work on for the next race."
Two other Redbirds finished in the top-10, including sophomore Julian Baker (9th) and junior Blake Oleson (10th). Sophomore Luke Barham set a personal-best time of 25:05.30 to cross the finish line 14th. Sophomore Josh Weeks took 17th, while Will Gelon broke his personal best time by over a minute to place 18th. Junior Kane Shields and freshman Quinn Davis finished in the top 25. Freshman Logan Scott crossed the line in 35th to round out the day for the Redbird men.
"The effort was good on the men's side, but the execution wasn't where we needed it to be," said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee. "Wartburg had a great race. They won because they're a really good team, and they executed better than we did. The first 2,000 or 3,000 meters is the easy part when we can run together, but it's that middle part we need to work on. A lot of them ran about where I was hoping they would run on the watch, but I think how we got there isn't necessarily how we wanted. We're in a solid place, and I think we're going to see the men make some strides in the next two weeks and certainly by the end of the season."
Four Redbird women finished in the top six. Junior transfer Nora Brady paced the women's team for the second straight meet, finishing runner-up with a mark of 21:42.20. Sophomore Colleen Zeibert took third, with senior Maggie Reed right behind her in fourth place. Freshman Pauline Schedler made her Redbird debut and placed sixth in just her second-ever cross country showing. Freshmen Brooke Zeibert and Cameron Crump finished strong in 13th and 15th place, respectively, while Sophia Baumert crossed the line in 39th.
"We got some nice, steady leadership from Maggie and Colleen," said Bovee. "Colleen has had a lot of track success, but this is a huge improvement for her compared to anything she's done on the grass, so I'm really proud of her. Nora has been consistent in the first two meets. Looking at that younger freshman group, Pauline had the fastest last 3,000 meters of anyone in the race. I think she's going to make a lot of improvements throughout the season. True freshmen Brooke and Cameron were honestly fantastic. There's still some execution things we can work on for the women, but overall a solid day for such a young group."
MEN'S 8K RESULTS – 2nd Place (50 points)
5. Cayde de Waal, 24:44.60 // 9. Julian Baker, 24:52.00 // 10. Blake Oleson, 24:53.40 // 14. Luke Barham, 25:05.30 // 17. Josh Weeks, 25:15.50 // 18. Will Gelon, 25:20.90 // 23. Kane Shields, 25:33.40 // 24. Quinn Davis 25:33.70 // 35. Logan Scott, 25:59.90
WOMEN'S 6K RESULTS – 1st Place (28 points)
2. Nora Brady, 21:42.20 // 3. Colleen Zeibert, 21:53.00 // 4. Maggie Reed, 21:53.20 // 6. Pauline Schedler, 22:04.60 // 13. Brooke Zeibert, 22:40.50 // 15. Cameron Crump, 22:46.50 // 39. Sophia Baumert, 23:33.40
UP NEXT
Illinois State heads to Columbia, Missouri, for the Gans Creek Classic on Sep. 26. Competition will begin at 8:15 a.m. on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
