Helloooooo Everyone!! IXC just finished one of its most famous and highly anticipated meets, Augustana!! This meet is known to be a quick race on a flat course, giving our runners a chance for a PR. Let me tell you, our racers did not disappoint. Despite the heat, we had a lot of amazing performances and PRs. Luckily, once again, we left the armoury later than the last meet, even after the races got pushed earlier in the day because of the heat. Well-slept and ready, we departed for our long drive. This one was longer than the past couple of drives, being about 3 hours away. Fortunately for us, I know many of the cars were talkative, making the drive easier. Finally, we arrived and even had a little time to relax and have fun before it was time to warm up. Photos were taken and TikToks created, but eventually, the time to warm up was upon us.
For once, the Men’s race was first, meaning they had to warm up first. We took a little tour of the course, laughed at some signs, and put on our spikes. This meet was against a lot of D3 teams, meaning the competition was high, but our men came ready to race. Well… not entirely ready, as when the gun went off two minutes earlier, many of us were still joking around in the box. After the shocking start, our racers sprinted off, but the first to finish was Percy Moser, taking 2nd place in the meet, finishing with a time of 26:22. This was Percy’s third meet, finishing 1st for our team. Great job! Quickly finishing behind him, and taking 5th place overall was Coach Ethan Forsell, finishing in 16:50. Next, we have Jeremy Perez, running a PR of 27:16, crushing his time from last week! Alex Herrera finished next. He was determined to prove himself after the last meet, and he did, running a time of 27:23. Jensen Bidmead was next, cruising through the race and finishing in a time of 27:49. Once again, I (Maxwell Maloney) followed Jensen through the race, finishing in 28:05. Walter Chang was our next finisher, breaking 29 with a time of 28:47. Simon Hildy was next finishing in a time of 28:58, before jetting off to go watch a concert in Las Vegas. Blake Salbila ran his first 8k with the club, finishing with a quick time of 29:15. Thomas Harmon returned, ready to race, speeding through the finish, ending with a time of 29:21. Alex Demas followed Thomas, crossing the finish line in 29:30. Next, we had a Senior + Freshman team-up of Adam Lupatkin and Cole Payne, working together to run times of 30:01 and 30:06. After that duo we had another pack of runners all fighting to stay under 31. First in the pack was Keith Solberg, running his first race back from injury in 30:26. Finishing right behind Keith was Zach Coren, swiftly finishing in 30:33. Morgan Frederick ran his first 8k this year, crossing the line in 30:43 (Let’s hope his PT doesn’t see this). Jonah Diehl closed the sub-31 pack, ending his race with a PR of 30:47. Brendan Graven was our next runner to cross the line, destroying his time from last meet, with a new time of 31:08. Alan Gu finished right behind Brendan and ran more than a minute faster than his time from last week!! He crossed the line in 31:17. Kyle McCoskey was our next finisher, racing a swift time of 31:34. A quick pack of Illinois runners finished next, and Nick Kwentus led the pack, racing a fast time of 31:58. Ryland O’Hanlon was right behind Nick, crossing the line in 32:05, more than a minute faster than his last race! Evan Kemph was next, racing a fast time of 32:11. Marcus Finley rounded out the pack, running a 32:14, without eating any food that day! Robert Henkel was our next finisher, showing up to the meet in a full dripped out fit. Robert ran a swift 33:38, followed quickly by Aidan Farrell, who beat his time from last week and finished in 33:41. Avery Bennett was our next racer, crossing the line in 35:31. Miles Moomaw ran his first race as an Illini, ending his race in 36:02. Assistant to the Coach, Aidan Markiewicz ran this race instead of only being stuck on car duty, finishing in 37:39. Terry Ryson was our last racer, running his first 8k in 48:09, and staying optimistic and smiling the whole time. Overall, the men had a lot of PRs and took 2nd place, despite the tough competition.
Now it was the Women’s time to step up and run some fantastic times. After watching the men’s race, they headed over to the line and prepared for the gun to go off. They looked more prepared than the men as the race started. Quickly, Aubrey Chaney took the lead and maintained it throughout the whole race, finishing 1st with a time of 23:07. Lenny Sterritt was our 2nd finisher, crossing the line in 25:23, substantially beating her time from last meet. Next up was Carolina Gallegos, who ran her first race in 25:41. Samantha Anderson was out next runner, finishing in 26:08. After Sam, there was a big pack of Illinois runners. Anika Lovisa led the pack, running a 26:28. Quickly after Anika came a large portion of the IXC board, finishing back to back. Sophia Libman ran her first race this season in 26:35, with Emma Bergmann and Anna Zlatic crossing the line quickly after her, finishing with times of 26:42 and 26:46. BTW Anna also ran almost a minute faster than her last race! Charlotte Kroll was our next finisher, racing a PR of 27:18. Next to finish was Jennifer Ruiz, who ran a quick time of 28:18. Lia Tondeva was our next finisher, crossing the line in a fantastic 29:04. Mira Bhimani had an amazing race, finishing a whole minute quicker than her last race and crossing the line in 29:25. Our next runner to cross the line was Kara Lotz ending her race in 29:43. Hannah Madla was next, running quickly to stay under 30. She succeeded with a time of 29:54. Dana Reed quickly followed Hannah with a time of 30:15. Margret Walsh was our last finisher of the day, racing a quick 40:17. A lot of big PRs and great racing led to the Women taking home 5th place.
Overall, our team persevered through the heat and had a lot of great performances. We celebrated by taking a trip to the Famous Arthur’s Deli and eating some delicious sandwiches. Let’s keep up the good work for Regionals!
Sincerely,
Max Maloney