The Illinois Cross Country Club finished the season this past weekend, at the NIRCA National Championships in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The men finished 5th in the team scoring, while the women finished a mere 12 points out of the podium, taking 4th.
Beth McGreal was the first Illinois finisher in 12th place, running a time of 23:15 for the hilly 6 kilometer course. Megan McGreal joined her as a 1st team NIRCA All-American, finishing in 23:24, to take 15th place. Emma Grimes and Megan Mocogni took 2nd team NIRCA All-American honors, finishing in 22nd place and 26th place, in times of 23:55 and 24:09 respectively. 5th for the team was Heather Guettermann, in 49th place with a time of 24:49.
On the men”s side, Jim Riddle led the way, running 26:32 for the 8K to take 14th over all and a 1st team NIRCA All-American distinction. Mark Donohue followed in 21st place, good enough for 2nd team NIRCA All-American. Senior Matt Birkel ran 27:17 to finish 43rd, while Evan White and Jared Ripoli rounded out the scoring five running 27:30 (51st) and 27:31 (52nd) respectively.
Results
