NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State cross-country program is set to host the annual Redbird Invitational on Friday, September 18, at the Weibring Golf Course. The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 8k race, followed immediately by the women's 6k race at 11:15 a.m.
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. Junior transfer Johanna 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.
SUCCESS AT WEIBRING
The Redbird Invitational has been a successful event for Illinois State recently, as the women's squad has won the 6k race the past three years, with the men's team winning two of the last three 8k events.
Senior Nora Brady led the Redbird women with a runner-up time of 21:42.2 in 2025, finishing inside the top 40 of the all-time records for program-hosted events. Senior Cayde de Waal led the men's squad with a time of 24:44.6, finishing fifth among the field.
REDBIRD DEBUTS
Four Redbirds (two women, two men) will make their Illinois State debuts on Friday. Junior Becca Heitzig will compete in her first cross-country meet with the Redbirds, after transferring mid-season last year for track & field. Freshman Emily King will make her collegiate debut, becoming the fourth freshman to debut this year with Illinois State. The men's team will see two transfers make their first Redbird appearances, including junior Ethan Eichhorn and senior Karson Hollander. Eichhorn previously competed at the University of Iowa, while Hollander was an All-MVC First Team selection last year at Valparaiso University.
THE FIELD
Four collegiate programs are set to compete during the men's and women's events, including Eastern Illinois, Illinois-Springfield, and Iowa. Northern Illinois will participate in the women's 6k event only. Two student-athletes from Heartland CC and Millikin will race unattached in the men's 8k.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JEFF BOVEE
On race expectations
"This will be an important race to assess where we're at, coming off of a big base training block over the summer and early fall, having been together for about a month or so now. We're very excited and curious for what everybody will look like. We'll have a race plan for how we want to try to execute things. But at the end of the day, it's a competition, and we want to go out there and win the home meet on both sides and set the tone for the rest of the season."
On impactful transfers' debuts
"Two weeks ago, we got a chance to see some of our younger newcomers, but we did not race Karson Hollander on the men's side. Then, we also didn't race Becca Heitzig, who was a mid-year transfer, so both of them are going to be in their first competition for the Redbirds on grass. Those two are going to be big spark plugs for us, and we're really looking forward to see them compete."
STARTING LINE – WOMEN
Izzy Bing (So.) // Nora Brady (Sr.) // Cameron Crump (So.) // Johanna Ebert (Jr.) // Grace Erb (Sr.) // Becca Heitzig (Jr.) // Emily King (Fr.) // Madison 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.) // Ethan Reynoso (Sr.) // Alex Rodriguez (Fr.) // Kane Shields (Sr.) // Max Weber (Fr.)
For the latest updates on Illinois State Cross Country, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on X (@RedbirdTFXC) and Instagram (isuredbirdtfxc) and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Track & Field/Cross Country).
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