The Illinois XC Club opened up their 2011 cross country season on Friday, September 2nd with the Illini Challenge. Coach Jake Englander entered 16 on the women”s side and 24 on the men”s side. Both teams placed well, with the women finishing in 4th out of 6 teams and the men finishing in 4th out of 7 teams.
The Women, competing in a 4 kilometer race, had many great performances. Because of the intense heat, the women went out conservatively and moved up well, while still being competitive throughout the race. Some notably outstanding performances included Jo Dibuz (So.) finishing first for the IXC Women and 23rd overall in a time of 16:09 and Amanda Zamora (So.) finishing 26th overall with a time of 16:22. Amanda was closely followed by Jess Mulcrone (Sr.), who finished 27th overall in a time of 16:43. Grace Hucek (So.), Megan McGreal (So.), Michelle Turner (Fr.) and Nikki Razik (So.) rounded out the Top 7 for the IXC Women. The rest of the women finished in their respective packs, sticking to the Illinois XC Club pack mentality well. What a great start to the season!
On the Men”s side, there were also some great performances. The blistering heat didn”t stop the new Law School phenom, Paul Vandervelde, from finishing 13th overall with a time of 19:33. Mike Frigo (Sr.) and Aaron Silver (Sr.) both clocked some new PR”s at the Arboretum by finishing in 17th and 19th place overall (respectively). Mike DeRenzo (So.), Brendan McDonnell (So.), Brett Lustgarten (Sr.) and Ryan Jorgensen (So.) rounded out the Top 7 for the IXC Men. With a 49 second split for 1-5, the men are going to be hard to beat this year. One other fantastic performance included the top Freshman of the day, Joe Zeller, finishing in 20:48, which was good enough for 36th overall. But, probably the biggest news of all was an IXC pack taking places 39-47, showing the Illinois XC Club Men at their absolute finest! Keep up the good work, guys!
