SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Illinois State cross-country program heads east to South Bend, Indiana, for the Joe Piane Invitational on Friday, October 2, hosted by Notre Dame. The event will begin at 9:00 a.m. CT with the women's blue division 5k race, followed immediately by the men's blue division 8k race at 9:40 a.m. CT. Two Redbirds will compete in the women's open division race at 10:20 a.m. CT.
BUILDING MOMENTUM
The Redbirds are coming off a sweep at the Redbird Invitational (Sept. 18), as the men's and women's squads both won their respective races for the third time in four years at the event, including a fourth-consecutive victory for the women's team in the 6k race. Junior Julian Baker and senior Nora Brady each recorded their first Illinois State cross-country victory, becoming the first Redbird duo since the 2024 Redbird Invitational to individually win their races at the same meet.
The Redbird men saw eight student-athletes finish inside the top 10, including seven consecutive finishes from third place to ninth. The team scored 19 points, tying their best score since the 2017 Illini Open.
The Redbird women had six top-10 finishes, including the top-three finishers in the 6k. Sophomore Pauline Schedler placed second with a time of 21:19.9, while junior Johanna Ebert finished immediately after in third with a mark of 21:25.3. The squad's team score of 23 points matched their best performance since the 2024 Redbird Invitational.
MIDSEASON RANKINGS
The Redbird women enter this week ranked 14th in the Midwest Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), while the Redbird men are ranked 13th in the Week 2 NCAA DI Cross Country Regional Rankings.
Two additional MVC women's programs are ranked by the USTFCCCA, including Bradley's ninth-place ranking in the Midwest Region, and Indiana State's 12th-place rating in the Great Lakes Region. The men's team is ranked just beneath Bradley as the second-highest MVC program in the top 15. Belmont is the third MVC program ranked, as they sit 13th in the South Region.
RETURN TO SOUTH BEND
Illinois State will compete in the Joe Piane Invitational for the first time since 2021. The women's squad placed 14th, while the men's team finished 11th among the field. Rachel Hickey led the way for the women, placing 28th with a time of 18:08.0. Tyler Klouda paced the men's team with a mark of 25:31.3 for 37th place.
SEASON OPENER
The Redbirds opened the 2026 season at the Fighting Illini Invitational (Sept. 4) in Savoy, Illinois. The women's team didn't record a team score, while the men's team placed fourth out of five programs. Ebert led the women in her Redbird debut with a personal-best time of 13:33.2 in the 4k, finishing fourth among the field. Senior Grace Erb recorded a personal-best mark of 14:03.6 for 14th place. Sophomore Cameron Crump placed 28th with her personal-best time of 14:32.5.
Freshman Max Weber led the Redbird men in his collegiate debut with a time of 18:07.7 for 10th place. Freshman Alex Rodriguez finished immediately after in 11th place with a time of 18:13.3. Sophomore Quinn Davis was the third Redbird to place inside the top 15 with a mark of 18:29.4 for 15th overall.
THE FIELD
14 collegiate programs are set to compete during the men's and women's blue division events, including Akron, Belmont, Bradley, Clemson, Grand Valley, Indiana, Indiana State, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina State, Notre Dame, San Francisco, St. Thomas (Minn.), and Youngstown State.
Butler, Dayton, Saint Louis, South Carolina, Texas State, and Western Michigan will only participate in the women's 6k event. Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, IU-Indianapolis, and Texas-San Antonio will partake in the men's 8k event.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JEFF BOVEE
On race expectations and strategies
"Everybody's had a chance to have at least one competition. We ran a little bit more of team-racing-controlled racing plans at the home meet, which we're really, really proud of how they executed both of those races for the men and women. This week, we're going to have a race plan as well. It may not look exactly like the one we had at home with a lot more runners and the quality there. We're going to give a little bit more of a green light for smaller race packs, and the men and women kind of set their tone from the start. There are some things that we need to work on for sure, with strategies and tactics and what not, that we will want to get from this race that will help us for postseason competition, whether it be conference or the NCAA Regionals."
On facing a larger field
"Notre Dame is historically one of the more competitive cross-country meets in the NCAA every year, so we're going to see some of the top-ranked teams, but also see quite a few teams from other regions, which is nice to match up against for some new competition. Quite a few other Valley schools will be there, so that's going to give us our first preview of where we are right now compared to our conference rivals."
"We do have a good idea where we want to be spatially, as far as each runner knows where they should be within the field of other runners. You also need to make sure that you're getting out pretty quick off the start line because there's quite a few turns on this course, so you need to make sure that you get where you want to be to see where those turns are coming in and be able to hit the tangents as quickly as possible."
STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Nora Brady (Sr.) // Cameron Crump (So.) // Johanna Ebert (Jr.) // Grace Erb (Sr.) // Becca Heitzig (Jr.) // Emily King (Fr., Open) // Pauline Schedler (So.) // Astrid Van Breedam (Jr.) // Brooke Zeibert (So., Open)
STARTING LINE – MEN
Julian Baker (Jr.) // Quinn Davis (So.) // Cayde de Waal (Sr.) // Ethan Eichhorn (Jr.) // Will Gelon (Jr.) // Karson Hollander (Sr.) // Blake Oleson (Sr.) // Alex Rodriguez (Fr.) // Kane Shields (Sr.) // Max Weber (Fr.)
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