IXC Community,
This is it. We have reached the end of our 2024 cross country season! I hate to be cliche, but it has flown by faster than any other season for me. Everyone should be seriously proud of themselves for their hard work this fall. I saw serious grit during both workouts and races. You all tackled repeats of all lengths and intensities with enthusiasm and bravery! Running up the Arb hill 12 times on a Friday afternoon is NOT most people’s idea of a good time, but I suppose cross country runners are inherently a little weird. Regardless, Coach E had a stellar breakout season leading this team! His workouts were highly effective (everyone PRed, and you said you weren’t going to fact check this recap) and pushed our athletes toward their goals.
Now let me tell you how Nationals went! We left early Friday morning and piled into three vans. Huge shoutout to the Brokaw, Casiello, and Rosen parents for being our most dignified chauffeurs this weekend. Their generosity and patience was unmatched! We are so grateful for your time. After getting on the road, most athletes slipped back into sleep. This not only energized us but helped pass some of the time (10+ hours of driving alone). After a couple of hours, it was time for lunch. All four vans stopped at various Panera locations for some fuel and a nice stretch of the legs, then it was time to drive the rest of the way to Barkcamp State Park in my home state of Ohio! We stopped here and did a quick shakeout run/walk. It was severely hilly and rocky, but scenic nonetheless. Mostly, we were all desperate to get some blood flowing in the legs. Somehow the third van managed to arrive 45 minutes after the rest of us, taking a more leisurely approach to the travel day. They say it’s about the journey, not the destination, right? Post run, we got back into the vans and drove a few more hours before dinner. My van stopped at a traditional Italian joint somewhere in Pennsylvania, Maryland, or West Virginia. Only Max B. seemed to know what state we were in. Thank you Mario for the hospitality and the digestive issues. The Casiello van also stopped at an Italian place too, and the Brokaw bunch hit up Olive Garden. The theme was carbs I guess. Each group had a great time getting to know one another and reflecting on their exciting day in the van. We all eventually made it to the Days Inn (well into the night!). It was time then for some desperately needed showers (I’m talking about you Anna Z.!) Though it was late, we reconvened in one of the rooms for some inspiring words from Coach and the annual Nats Raps. The Raps spoke for themselves (vote Albert for best Nats Rap). There was a range of styles and rhyming schemes, but everyone that performed seemed to think their own rap was funny. Anna Z. and I gave it our all up there but the silence was deafening. We are already working on ours for next year though. Coach E, with his ego slightly bruised from all of the insults, mustered up the vocal strength to give a quick pep talk before we headed to bed. He told us we were ready for what the course had in store, but nothing could have truly prepared us for what lay ahead. I can’t say with complete certainty what everyone did in their rooms that night, but as far as I know, everyone fell asleep promptly, dreaming of Hershey bars.
The next morning, it was race day! The breakfast area was abuzz with excitement and nerves. We were accompanied by our friends at University of Virginia, so the place was completely swamped with orange and blue. We departed for Hershey Parkview course pretty early and got the tent and tarps all set up. We had a bit of time before our first race, so everyone got situated, made their first (of many) porta potty runs, and got their free swag from Bombas and LMNT!!!
The first race we had runners in was the women’s Junior/Senior/Grad 6K. Our amazing Mira Bhimani suffered a last minute injury and could not make it, so Evelyn Rowan braved this race by herself! She had the privilege of entering into this race blissfully unaware of how treacherous the terrain is. Evelyn described it as majorly tough, but she enjoyed the humongous cheering squad that motivated her throughout the race.
She also noted that there was an Evelyn from another school nearby, so she received double the enthusiasm. Evelyn finished her race in 29:32. As a result of her being the first one to go, she then had to describe the course to the rest of us. She tried to be honest, but not discouraging, but there is no sugarcoating the volume and size of hills we had to scale.
The next race of the morning was the men’s Junior/Senior/Grad 8K. We had a solid turnout in this category. Finishing first and being our ONLY ATHLETE ON THE PODIUM (besides Diane) was Simon Hildy. Simon thought it was a fun race and enjoyed it even though most people hated it. He was stoked to receive a certificate for his time of 28:22.9. His name essentially has the word Hill in it so this performance checks out. Behind Simon was Quinn Born, who has completed one heck of an IXC career. He had been inspired by Hootie & the Blowfish playing at the hotel and by the porta potties. Quinn ran an awesome race, finishing in 28:52.2 and placing 14th. Much to his dismay, NIRCA only gave out certificates for Top 10. Quinn was robbed of a podium finish at his very last race. After a brief outburst of disappointment, he realized he doesn’t need a paper to signify his impact these last four years (Simon– I would hide that certificate if I were you). Thanks Quinn for being such a friend to everyone on this team! Behind Quinn was another senior, Gabe Inojosa. Gabe accomplished his goal of a jersey swap, so the day was a success. He also continued in his tradition of having his shoe come untied during the race. Even with a stop to fix this, he finished in 30:11.7. He felt that he ran well, though he did not escape his cursed laces. Gabe, you will surely be missed! Behind Gabe was Nick Kwentus, my new favorite YouTuber. Nick didn’t share much with me about his race (maybe he’ll spill in the next vlog?) but said he loved watching his teammates race from atop the large rock structure. I also enjoyed that. Nick finished in a time of 31:50.5. I bet the naps he took in the van contributed to that awesome time. Up next was Aidan Farrell. Aidan thought the hills sucked but made for an exciting last race of the season. Way to embrace the discomfort! He finished with a time of 33:09.6. Right behind Aidan was another senior, Henry Hornbrook. I am so glad Henry brought the Illinois flag, though it was substantially shorter than Virginia Tech’s which made me feel somewhat inferior… Henry donned his crown one last time, and though he told me the king got cooked by the hills, I still think his time of 34:13.1 was pretty impressive. He had a great weekend and the culmination to his IXC career. Way to go Henry!!
Pictured here is the women’s Championship team, substituting Diane for me. They always take the pictures once I walk away. We miss you Diane!
The next race was the Women’s Championship 6K. We unfortunately were down a few of our top runners, but still had a mighty pack of ladies in our box! Let me note that the course was a little long (~0.15 miles) so that we could run uphill a few more times. Finishing first was Claire Casiello, who has made me so proud this season! By the time I asked Claire for details about her race, she had already blocked it out. She said her paces ranged from 3K running down the inclines to half marathon pace going up. These paces averaged out to a finish time of 25:00.2. Well done Claire! She was sad this was her last race, and I sure am sad too! She has set such a great example for the power of hard work and consistency. Behind Claire was Madame President, Bridget Brokaw. Bridget couldn’t believe it was her last cross country race, but we all know she prefers track! She said she left it all out there and was grateful to have Lenny to run with when things got rough. She finished in 26:52.8. Bridget is a gem of a human and I don’t even want to imagine this team without her. Lenny finished just after Bridget in a time of 27:04.3. I am glad we convinced Lenny to make the journey East with us. Lenny also appreciated having Bridget right by her, and was motivated by trading off who was leading. I can’t wait to see the things Lenny will do in these next four years! I finished after Lenny in a time of 27:37.0. I will tell it to you straight- that was an abomination of a course. The flat parts were nice, but very brief and inadequate to recover. I also kept getting passed on the downhills by my teammates, but I ended up passing all of them in the end so who am I to complain. Next year I am locking in for XC, mark my words. I had such a last this weekend and have so much love for the IXC family! Behind me was Suhani Peramanu, who finished in a brisk 27:56.2. Suhani had negative expectations going into the race (thanks to our resident debbie downer, Evelyn), so she was ready for a challenge when the gun went off. It wasn’t as bad as she expected and had her garlicky pasta from the night before to power her up the hills. She overcame her beef with Anna Z.’s feet and the two finished nearby each other. Anna’s time was 28:08.4, an impressive feat (ha, get it?) considering the terrain. Anna said it hurt going down the hills just as much as going up them, but she thought it was kinda fun and as time went on afterward, she even found some retrospective appreciation for the race. Anna stirred the pot like she always does, making members of the team uncomfortable at times. We love her anyway. Up next was TBJ, who also may have just ran her last cross country race. Anna, we appreciate your sacrifices this weekend and it was great to have you on the team. Anna used the downhills to her advantage as much as possible, but this course was relentless and the motivation was low. Regardless, Anna told me she had such a blast and wouldn’t have traded it for the world. That concludes the results for the Championship race! Being down some athletes definitely hurt us (you know it’s bad if I am scoring) and we finished in 17th place. I am so proud of these women and all the others that have been involved this season.
Up next was the Men’s Championship race. The guys were stoked to get a taste of what Hershey had to offer. These poor fellas had to run up the steepest hill 3 times. Seriously, that’s a crime. Finishing first in a slight upset was Sam Lambert. Sam finished in 27:10.3, He surpassed coach in the last couple K, proving to all of us that we should never get too comfortable. Great race Sam! Coach E finished a super successful season with what he described as the worst race of his career. He took a learn as you go approach and it completely failed (failed is harsh terminology in my opinion). Still, he said he was super proud to have coached this season, and nearly teared up when reflecting on this last few months. He also offers congratulations to Sam for his ‘machine-like’ performance. Humble and proud. Coach finished in 27:15.8. Percy Moser crossed the line next. He described the performance as ‘no bueno’, likely due to the poor pre race meal options provided by the Brokaw bus. Hopefully he had enough Alice in Chains on the way back to drown out his sorrows. Percy finished in 27:28.4. I also need to mention that Percy had the most passionate Nats rap (feat. Connor Quadrini). Up next was the iconic Albert Szewczyk, who finished in 27:50.9. He told me he was surprised by the steepness of the hills, but still managed to clutch up and use the flat parts to regain his momentum. Albert was an entertaining addition to the Rosenmobile, though I never got to hear the lore he kept promising us. Maybe next year. Up next was everyone’s buddy, Easton Rosen. This was Easton’s last race with IXC as well. It could have been the nap on top of his pumpkin bread or Mario’s alfredo propelling him forward, but regardless, he said it went relatively well. Though the middle of the race felt like it was twice as long as it was, he still had expected worse out of the hills and found the run pretty bearable. Easton has been such a great addition these last two years and will be missed! Up next was another Rosenmobile passenger, Thomas Harmon. Thomas said it was a rough day ngl, but he will be taking time to reset ahead of track season. He still had a blast hanging out with his wonderful teammates all weekend long, and enjoyed getting to sit in the back row for every minute of the van ride. Rounding out the men’s team was freshman Max Maloney. Max finished in a very swift 29:01.3. Max thought the race was super tough and blames the flatness of Urbana. Overall, he still said it was a great experience and he’s happy he went.
The final race of our day was the Men’s Freshman/Sophomore race. We had good turnout here as well, with Connor Quadrini finishing first. Connor chose the ignorance is bliss mindset when preparing for this race and opted not to look at the course map. Where and how he went askew, I do not know, but he somehow cut off part of the course. Between the hours of 8 am and 3 pm he could not carve out time to get it together, and blames his teammates for their lack of guidance. He left Hershey with a great story to tell. His time was 28:31.1 (officially!). Up next was Morgan Frederick, who somehow PRed by 3 seconds. How he did that, I do not know. I believe this was our only PR of the day, so major kudos to Morgan! He finished in a time of 29:07.7. Just behind him was Jensen Bidmead, who ran an impressive 29:08.8. Jensen told me the race was extremely hard, but he almost cooked. We will look out for that next year. Behind Jensen was Zach Coren. Or wait, was Zach first? I hope they gave the bibs to the right people. Just kidding! Great race, Zach! He finished in a time of 29:51.9. He was proud of his control on the hills, though they were still brutal. Zach had a great weekend just like everyone else! Up next was Alex Demas, who penciled in time to race amidst his nap/ ignore everyone schedule. He thought the experience was horrible and his back hurt from carrying the team for so long. Alex was a ray of sunshine in the Rosenmobile and I am missing our laughs together. Up next was Brendan Graven, who crossed the line in 31:34.6. Brendan did not particularly enjoy this race, probably because it wasn’t held at the Arboretum. Bring it home for us next year. Robert Henkel and Max Boughner were next. Robert just barely eked out the win with a time of 33:54.6. I stand corrected on my previous statement; Robert also PRed! Robert had a fun time during the race, though he would have preferred not to inhale dust at the bottom of each hill. Robert will be poised and ready to show those hills who’s boss if we ever return to Hershey (please NIRCA, somewhere closer next year). Max Boughner finished in 33:55.5, ending his first ever cross country season on a great note. Fun fact, Max mostly eats milkshakes and refuses to eat Taco Bell and Chipotle. Don’t take him there! Max capped off his season with what he called his best effort to date. Great job Max, and thanks for the Instagram follow!
Our final runner of the day was Farooq Hamza, who finished in 35:34.1. He compared his race to his exploded bowl of hotel oatmeal (who knew you can’t microwave styrofoam?). He said he got out too fast and lost Max, but it was still an overall good experience. That is the positive spirit that gets us far in life!
After awards, we headed over for some sweet fun at Hershey World or whatever it’s called. The World of Chocolate ride was a major hit, and many of us loaded up on chocolate and candy for the ride home. After that, it was dinner nearby, then a 2.5 hour van ride to our next hotel. Saturday night consisted of either immediate sleep, or cards and slushies in the lobby. The next morning, we left early for the rest of the long trek back to Champaign. Overall, it was such a great weekend of racing and bonding with the team. Though the course wasn’t the fastest, it was a true test of the human spirit. Some of us got better grades than others. Thanks again to all parents who drove and members of the board who made this weekend happen. I am sad this season has ended, but grateful for all of the memories I made.
Phew, that was a lot. I am sure most of you just search for your own names, but I hope you enjoyed that recap and my others this season! It has been such a joy getting to serve as Webmaster this fall. I am not sure what the future holds, but I will maybe be back next season for more. If not, I am sure the torch will be passed to a tech-savvier, funnier, more enthusiastic individual after me. Regardless, you all are in good hands.
Peace, love, and prosperity,
Emma Berg