On Saturday, October 1st the Illinois XC Club Men and Women headed out to downtown Chicago to race in the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational hosted by Loyola. With 48 teams entered on the men”s side and 45 teams entered on the women side, the IXC Club knew there was going to be great competition. And, so it was.
The men started off the day at 11:15 AM in the Men”s Collegiate 8k race. Most of the team got out nicely, and were able to tackle the infamous Hill 5 times without issue. Mike Frigo (Sr.) came through in first for the IXC Men, placing 28th overall in a time of 25:45. Paul Vandervelde (Grad.) was the second man on the day for the IXC men, running 26:06, which was good enough for 49th overall. Mike DeRenzo (So.) , Matt Birkel (So.) , and Blake Flood (So.) rounded out the top 5 for the Men, with Mike Spillone (IXC Club Alum) getting thrown into the mix of the scoring 5, making a cameo appearance after very little training.
Further down the lineup, there were some really big performances. One of the most incredible of these was Thomas Galpin (Graduate), our fastest Frenchman, running an incredible 28:25, placing 271st. Thomas PRed by 35 seconds from his time at EIU, which is a huge drop considering the difference in difficulties of the course (EIU being much flatter/quicker than Loyola). Great job Thomas!
On the team side of the race, the IXC Men finished 2nd out of the NIRCA teams within the race, losing to Iowa State Running Club by a mere 18 points. It was a fierce battle, but in the end the Men were unable to hold off Iowa State after a few minor hiccups within the usual top 5. Although the IXC Men were slightly disappointed by their finish, Coach Jake Englander looks to rebound the men in the upcoming meets.
As for the IXC Club Women, the race went off at 12:00 PM. The race started off just as crazily as the Men”s race, with 49 women”s teams competing and 538 total women in the race. The Ladies kept their wits about themselves and went out smart. Jo Dibuz (So.) came in first for the IXC Women, placing 129th overall with a time of 19:35. Amanda Zamora (So.) followed closely in 19:43 placing 144th overall. Grace Hucek (So.), Jessie Balagtas (So.), and Beth McGreal rounded out the top 5 for the IXC Women on the day.
The women placed 23rd out of 49 teams. In the process, the women were the 2nd Club Team, losing to the Michigan Running Club. The women look to keep their heads up and their eyes on the prize, as nationals is only a month away. Keep on doing what your doing, ladies.
Look for the Men and Women to be at the Parkside Invitational hosted by IWU on Friday, October 7th, and at the UW La Crosse Invitational on Saturday, October 15th.
