The weather gods decided to turn illinois into an ice rink the weekend of November 2nd, but that didn’t stop IXC from putting on a show at the Arboretum. Team titles? Individual titles? Political intrigue? Dogs? 8K courses up to 200m too long? This meet had it all.
In a complete 180 of the meet schedules IXC has been accustomed to, the men ran the 8k first. Leading the way was head coach Josh Mollway , who won the race with a time of 26:15.5! However, don”t let this man distract you from the fact that in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 16 ft through the announcer”s table . Taking 2nd place overall was Justin Ostrem with a time of 26:51.3. He was followed by John Kellum (who is really having a go of it this season) in third with a time of 27:12.3. Next up was grandpa Ryan Somerfield , who got cucked out of fourth place by some northwestern kid by 0.3 seconds, but still ran solid to get fifth in 27:14.2. He has his eyes on the prize, however, and is ready to turn on the jets at nats. Nikita Smyrnov also got cucked by Ryan by 0.3 seconds, finishing in sixth place with a time of 27:14.5. Connor Farrell ran aggressively, and was rewarded with an eighth place finish in a time of 27:18.7. Brian Butcher , still recovering from his marathon, rounded out the top 7 with a time of 27:27.0.
Local frat god, “grease monkey”, and headband wearer Matthew Beckerman was next for the IXC men in a time of 27:54.3. He was followed by freshman Spencer Nelson, who ran 28:14.4, and team loanshark Alex Kogen , who ran 28:22.4 in possibly his best race of the season so far! Jeffrey Hesselbein was next in 28:44.3. Team bulldozer Liam Bots just barely missed breaking 29 minutes with an official 29:00.2, but the course was long by almost 200m so he essentially got it. Bool brothers Tim Green and Lucas Carillo finished consecutively with times of 29:03.6 and 29:11.0. I don’t know if it was planned or not, but that is heart-meltingly adorable. Robbie Sieczkowski was next through the line in 29:22.2. Cade Baker , Lukas Koller , and Jordan Meyer all came through close together in times of 29:27.6, 29:29.3, and 29:32.9, respectively. Jordan’s time brought ten thousand years of shame and dishonor to his family line, sadly, despite being a solid race.
Freshman Arthur Mazzeo has been steadily improving throughout the season, and ran a great time of 29:47.6 on a long course. Local Busey men and aerospace maniacs Matthew Dickinson and Daniel Engel came through together in times of 29:49.3 and 29:51.3. Middle distance coach Patrick Wilhalm finally ran something longer than 1 mile in a day, finishing in a solid time of 29:55.5. Nathan Saltzman and the oldest undergraduate student in living memory ( Jacob Fleck ), came through next in 29:56.8 and 30:02.7.
Wassim Elhouar really likes it when I call him out as an old man in these writeups. Old dustbag boomer Wassim Elhouar ditched his walker and test-drived his new hip-replacement at the Nirca Regionals early bird special. He finished in a time of 30:22.4, but back in his day you could buy a whole soda pop with a 30-31 minute 8k. Nate Sun finished his first 8k of the season in a time of 30:35.1, which also makes him eligible to buy a soda pop in the old days (1920? Not sure how old Wassim is…). Freshmen Norb Nieves and Garrett Minich came through together in times of 30:52.3 and 30:53.1, respectively. Big PRs are on the horizon at nats!
Detroit Lions fan and Urbana enigma Alex Hanskat finished in 31:18.2 to punch his ticket to Nats round 4, followed by Sam Barranco and Nathan Zachar in times of 31:25.2 and 31:32.6. The hulking mass of raw muscle known as Olan Bruyere barrelled through the finish line in 31:35.7, taking out several bystanders in the process. Marcus Harrington took advantage of the massive lane Olan opened up, crossing the line in 31:40.8, good for a first down. John Feeley opened up a can of whoopass to finish in 31:55.8.
Evan Patel , sporting a new haircut and a sick tan, crossed next in 32:10.9, followed by freshman Justin Baysore in 32:26.1. Thomas Tran ran great to finish with a time of 32:49.6, and is ready for a huge PR at nationals. Webmaster Jarod Meyer , sporting a new haircut and a sick tan, finished in 33:23.3, and brough ten thousand years of honor and prestige to his family line. Freshman Raymond Romero crossed next in 33:33.9. Isaac Schifferer finished in 34:58.5, and Senior Sean Frintner ran one last regionals, finishing in a time of 35:12.9. Bryan Himmel closed it out in 37:29.3. Nicely done, lads!
Now onto the women. As has been the theme this year, Sophomore Natalie Sarris dominated the competition to win in 22:49.4. She should be at the front during nationals. Grace Gudwien and President Julia Schultz took 2nd and 3rd overall in great races of 23:23.5 and 23:32.2, respectively. Freshman Brisa Mcgrath completely skipped the 25 minute range to run a 24:08.8 and placed 5th overall. Sub-24 is knocking on the door now too. Mia Bertaud ran a PR despite muddy conditions and some lingering sickness to take 7th overall in 24:11.0! Grad aerospace maniac Noel Brindise was 6th for the team in 25:14.9, followed by Freshman Annika Koester in 25:41.2, to round out the top seven.
Freshman Mikeelie Jensen was next up with a solid performance of 25:52.6, and even better, didn’t hurt her ankle at the race! Riley Maloney gave her all and came through in 26:19.9, and is ready for a great last nats. Freshman Lauren Brunk charged through in a time of 26:29.9, followed by Clare Oehler and Emily Condic in times of 26:43.6 and 26:51.3, respectively. Ally Tippett ran well to finish in 26:53.7.
Brianna Legner ran smoothly to finish in 27:19.0, followed by big dog Grace McDonough in 27:23.0. Big shoutout to Grace, who came close to her all-time PR despite dealing with a year’s worth of injuries, and on a long course in less than ideal conditions too! Maddy Feehan was next in 27:37.3, and Lucy Jensen beat her time from Lewis with a 27:55.8. Senior booler Margo Van Loon and Freshman Audrey Calkins were next in 28:25.2 and 28:33.2, respectively. Gabby Aguilar-Ripley finished in 28:47.9. Leah Ziolkowski was all smiles as she finished her first xc race in almost a year, running 28:58.9! It’s been a long time due to injuries, but welcome back, Leah! Katie Sledz and Lauren Bartels ran well, finishing in 29:27.3 and 29:27.8, respectively. Natalie Maguire moved up well and gave a great effort to finish in 30:23.7. Freshman Maggie Kosterman and Senior Abby Ludwig were next, in 30:49.1 and 31:11.6, respectively.
Mary-Beth Feeley ran a 1 minute PR to finish in 31:43.1, and Mary Rose Farruggio also PR’d by over a minute to run 35:03.2! Great job, ladies!
And that recaps a fantastic home regionals meet for the club. We now have one chance to take home the gold (or some paper certificates/instagram photos/PRs/Jimmy John’s sandwiches next week at nationals. Stay tuned for the nationals preview!
Awkward sweaty handshake,
The IXC exec board