DES MOINES, Iowa – The Illinois State cross-country program will compete for a conference title at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Friday. The event will be held at the A.H. Blank Golf Course in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Drake.
The Redbird women will participate in the 6k race at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men's 8k at 11:30 a.m. The awards ceremony will commence around 12:20 p.m. Tickets for spectators will be sold for $10 at the entrance on meet day.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State concluded its regular season at the Bradley Pink Classic (Oct. 16) in Peoria, Illinois. The men's squad finished third, while the women placed fourth among the field.
Junior Julian Baker led the men with a third-place time of 23:27.8, gathering a third-straight top-10 finish. Seven Redbirds collected personal-best times in the 8k, including junior Ethan Eichhorn's mark of 23:47.5 for 15th place. Junior Johanna Ebert led the women with a personal-best time of 20:37.8 for ninth place. Sophomore Pauline Schedler and senior Nora Brady registered top-20 marks, finishing in 15th and 18th place, respectively.
EBERT BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD
Ebert recorded the fastest 6k time (20:37.8) in Illinois State history at the Bradley Pink Classic (Oct. 16), surpassing Brady's time of 20:38.9 from the Bradley Pink Classic in 2025. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside transfer set a new personal record by about 24 seconds, beating her time of 21:01.9 at the 2025 GLIAC Cross Country Championships.
TOP-10 PERFORMANCES
Ebert was one of five Redbirds who etched their names in the record books at the Bradley Pink Classic (Oct. 16). Schedler tied for fifth all-time with her personal-best time of 20:45.4, matching Director of Operations/Assistant Coach Claire Fuhlhage's performance from the 2023 Loyola Lakefront Invitational. Junior Becca Heitzig sits ninth with her personal-best mark of 20:52.1.
Eichhorn and senior Cayde de Waal notched top-10 times in the men's 8k. Eichhorn cracked the top five with his personal-best time of 23:47.5, finishing two seconds ahead of Ryan Rutherford's performance from the 2013 NCAA Pre-Nationals. De Waal's personal-record time of 24:08.2 tied Matt Mroczynski's outing at the 2008 Notre Dame Invite for ninth place all-time.
ILLINOIS STATE AT MVC'S
- Redbird men finished fourth (111 points) at the 2025 MVC Championships, while the women placed third (90 points).
- Baker paced the men with a time of 24:45.84 for ninth place, and Brady led the women with a seventh-place time of 21:12.22, helping her earn the Elite 18 Award.
- Baker and Brady earned All-Valley First Team honors, while Schedler was named an All-Valley Honorable Mention.
- William Sinclair was the last individual male champion in 2024, while Rachel Brewer last claimed the women's title in 2013.
- Redbird men have won the MVC title 10 times, most recently in 2020-21.
- Redbird women have earned seven conference titles, last winning in 2012.
PRE-MVC CHAMPIONSHIP POLL
The MVC league office announced Wednesday the results of its pre-championship poll. The Redbird men (106 points) and women (110 points) were picked to finish second in their respective races, trailing Bradley in both polls.
REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Redbird men are ranked 12th in the Midwest Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), while the Redbird women sit 14th in the Week 5 DI Cross Country Regional Rankings.
Two additional MVC women's programs are ranked by the USTFCCCA: Bradley, ninth in the Midwest Region, and Indiana State, 10th in the Great Lakes Region. For men's programs, Belmont and Drake were ranked ninth and 15th in the Midwest Region. Belmont sits 13th in the South Region, while Indiana State is 15th in the Great Lakes Region.
THE FIELD
All 11 MVC programs will compete for a conference title on Friday. The Redbirds will battle Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois-Chicago, Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Valparaiso.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JEFF BOVEE
On race preparation
"There's not any hard 90-degree turns here when it comes to preparation. I think when you're talking about training methodology, it all flows throughout the season, and we just do a lot of things that we've been doing, while trying to make a few adjustments to get those legs feeling a bit fresher. That's very individualized as far as what that might look like, but we're definitely healthy and looking to have a great meet this week."
On familiarity with MVC programs
"Collectively, we've seen everybody in the conference going into the championship, and we have a good idea of how they look and how we're looking. It's us really just running to our best ability against the clock to go have our best race to try to go out there and win a championship."
STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Nora Brady (Sr.) // Cameron Crump (So.) // Johanna Ebert (Jr.) // Grace Erb (Sr.) // Becca Heitzig (Jr.) // Emily King (Fr.) // Pauline Schedler (So.) // Astrid Van Breedam (Jr.)
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.) // Max Weber (Fr.)
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