The past two weeks marked the end to the 2015-2016 University of Illinois Club Track and Field season, and it culminated in some strong last performances. May 12th and 13th, members of the team traveled to North Central for the Dr. Keeler Invitational, and then on May 21st a couple members traveled all the way out to Palo Alto, California for the Stanford Cardinal Open. Although there were not many athletes or performances in these weeks, there were still some very solid season end performances.
From the men’s side, it was mainly distance runners who competed at both North Central and Stanford. From the distance squad at North Central, Justin Shim and Sean Bruyere had very good PRs coming in at 4:19.74 and 4:29.99. From the Mid D squad at North Central, Kevin Lapp came through with a season PR (and incidentally club PR) of 54.88. At Stanford, distance coach Steve Krauklis had his final outing after a long arduous career of coaching and racing with a very solid 5k.
From the women’s side, at North Central, Megan Mocogni was the lone ranger with one mission; to break the women’s 10k record. In stunning fashion, she crushed the past record by a minute and 28 seconds with a time of 36:59! However, Mocogni was not done yet. A week later she competed at Stanford breaking her previous club record by seven seconds with a time of 17:37! Also competing very well at Stanford was Abby Madden who also ran the 5k. Abby ran a solid season best with a time of 19:22. For her solid race as well as just all around positive influence on the team in her four years, Abby Madden was given the final ITC Official Interview of the season. Check it out!
With that, I just wanted to say thank you. The end of the season has now come, and it has been my pleasure posting these write ups and interviews for all the readers and viewers. Moving forwards, many of the distance team members will be training very hard over the summer in preparation for the upcoming cross country season. Otherwise, the next track season is only 7 months away, so as always make sure to stay tuned.
