In past years, the Augustana XC meet was a brutal affair, with temperatures often in the 90+ degrees range. This year, however, the conditions were perfect. Low temperatures and a flat course set the stage for some fast times; and the men and women of IXC certainly took advantage of the opportunity
First, the women’s race. As a team, the women performed great against NCAA programs, finishing 7th overall with 175 points. Sophomore Natalie Sarris lurked in the top 20 through the first mile of the race, and then blasted away from the field. She maintained a massive lead throughout the final mile of the race, and was the individual champion in a time of 22:05.7, second all-time in club history! Up next was sophomore Grace Gudwein , who moved up throughout the race and finished 6th overall in 22:45.4. Working with Grace was our president, Julia Schultz , who held on through nausea. Her toughness was rewarded with a 17th place finish in 23:03.0. Mia Bertaud hung back from the initial fast pace, and picked off runners as she moved up throughout the race, finishing with a time of 24:39.4. Freshman Maddy Feehan was next with a time of 25:57.3. She was followed by the ever inseparable Lauren Brunk and Audrey Calkins , who ran the entire race together with near identical times of 26:24.0 and 26:24.3 to finish 7th and 8th on the team.
Senior Brianna Legner has now gone 2/2 on PR-ing in races this season, with a 26:46.3 effort. NIRCA drug testing policies are essentially non-existent, but we sincerely hope she is clean in the wake of the recent NOP revelations! After struggling with injuries the past year, Junior Grace Mcdonough showed no struggles today, running a time of 27:05.3. To quote, “I was feeling gooood”. We hope that good feeling isn’t from any association with Alberto Salazar. Senior Margo Van Loon was next with a solid time of 27:55.8. Even better, she is a top contender for teammate of the year already, reportedly encouraging teammates and even other competitors WHILE racing. Lauren Bartels ran a strong race, and finished with a 30:01.1 PR. Sub 30 is knocking on the door. Natalie Maguire ran 30:25.7, and freshman Marybeth Feeley ran 32:38.4. Katelyn Howley and newcomer Mengyan Liu wrapped it up for the women with times of 38:32.2 and 42:02.4. Keep an eye out for some huge drops in time as we get closer to nationals!
Next, the men’s race. Although the U of Chicago xc team was the class of the field, with a perfect score of 15, the IXC men had an excellent performance in grabbing 2nd place as a team, beating out many solid D2/D3 programs in the process. Coach Josh Mollway started off relaxed and moved up as usual for 7th place overall and a 25:36.6 time. Sophomore Justin Ostrem has been killing it at practice lately, and ran 25:59.7 for 22nd overall. Ole man Ryan Somerfield ran 26:14.9, and felt smooth throughout. He is looking to get out less conservative next time, and we all know he can run sub-26 when he’s feeling good. Junior John Kellum has struggled with running cross country in the past. The workouts have been there, the track times indicate high potential, but the races just haven’t come together in XC. That was not the case at Augustana, where Kellum finally had the race he knew he was capable of, running a massive PR of 26:33.0 in the process! Who knows how much faster he can run?! Congratulations man!
Glorified carpool planner Connor Farrell followed up his Aurora performance with another top-7 finish in 26:33.7. Sadly, he didn’t eat a Culver’s afterwards with the bulk of the team… nerd. Nikita Smyrnov paid the iron price for going out hard with the leaders, finishing in 26:40.6. However, what is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger. We love the aggressiveness this early in the season. Cody “Dr. Thicc” Lund was next in 27:15.5. He has been running well and running consistent. Matthew Beckerman had a series of unfortunate events; a motorcycle fell on his leg, and he was out with the flu for weeks. You wouldn’t have even noticed it seeing how this guy ran a 27:49 on about a week of running, just off his PR! Freshman Spencer “Spencie” Nelson was next in 28:02.3, followed closely by the hard closing, heavily injured, and possibly roided out Evan Patel in 28:08.3. Dojomaster Alex Kogen and Freshman Justice Carter , (who was making his debut), finished together in 28:20.3 and 28:21.5, respectively. Freshman Cade Baker got all pumped up listening to his favorite rapper, Yung PP, in the car ride over. It showed today with his 28:27.7, but he probably should listen to actually good artists, like Queen , and Tech N9ne.
John Walls ran 28:44.1 in his first race for the club, followed by Tim Green , who PR’d with a time of 28:46.0. Lucas Carillo also PR’d with a 28:54.9, despite still being sick after a month. Nice sub-29 though! Freshman Arthur Mazzeo and Sophomore Nathan Saltzman also finished closely together, with times of 29:16.7 and 29:20.9. Daniel “Rocket” Engel ran a 29:28.6, and likes rocket-related things. Despite having a tough semester, Matt Dickinson has still been putting the work in with night runs on his own. He finished with a time of 30:04.8, and is still running close to his best! Senior Zac Macadam returned from his year-long sabbatical from the club, and ran great with a 30:34.4. Marcus “Mr. 5:20” Herrington went out a little too quick, but still finished next to Nathan Zachar , with both finishing in times of 31:07.2 and 31:07.7. Rumor has it thanos ran the 8k at Augustana. Those rumors were correct, as John Feeley dished out a little street justice with his 31:44.3 time. This guy has been consistent with his training, dedicated, and has been dropping time like a goon. Sam Barranco and Tristan Taylor were next in 32:15.7 and 32:19.3, respectively.
How could I respect myself as a webmaster if I didn’t give Olan Bruyere his own paragraph in this writeup? Luckily, I clearly respect myself. Olan Bruyere ran 32:30.4 for his 8k. Sometimes a big dog’s gotta eat.
Three freshman rounded it out for IXC men. Raymond Romero , Isaac Schifferer , and Thomas Tran ran 33:26.6, 33:44.4, and 33:45.6. Keep an eye on this training group; they”re only going to get faster and faster.
And this concludes another successful outing. Good luck to our runners at the Lewis XC invite tomorrow, and expect a recap of their performances soon!