Hello, all Cross country fans and followers!
Regionals has kicked off our postseason, and guess what! Both our men’s and women’s teams qualified for nationals! But before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you how the day started out. At 7:50, we all hopped into our cars and began to make the drive. We all took a nice drive north to Wisconsin, going through the suburbs of Chicago. Well, not all of us, Morgan decided to brave it out and go right through the city. Eventually, we all made it to the meeting with plenty of time to spare. While many of us tried to relax before the race, the bees did not agree with that plan and decided to disrupt us the whole time. Many trying to escape to bees, and worried about the hills, decide to do a walk around the course. Eventually, our time of peace was over; now it was time to get ready to race!
Finally, the weather had begun to chill. While still warm during the day, the heat was not overwhelming as it has been during the past meets. Most of the rain and the mud from the previous day had dried, leaving only a few wet patches. It seemed like the perfect day to race. As the women concluded their warmup, they marched over to the line and began their strides. After a team huddle and a speech from Coach Ethan, which I can only assume was primarily focused on trying to beat Wisconsin, the women ran back and through the tunnel the men had created. This tradition, started by the women’s team, is now done before both the men’s and women’s races, hopefully giving some pre-race hype to the racers. I at least think it’s fun, and I’m glad both our Women and Men do it before each race now. After the tunnel, the Women approached the line and prepared for the cannon to fire. Yeah, that’s right, not a gun, a cannon!
Boom! The cannon fired, and the race began. The first one to cross the line for the Illini was Joy Dudley. Joy made a fantastic return, running 25:08 after not racing since the Grizzly 5k, and came back right when she was needed. She helped out the Women’s team by taking 7th place overall, which was a big help to the team score. Evelyn Rowan finished quickly behind Joy with a time of 25:39, also landing her a top 10 finish, placing 9th. Third up was Sophia Libman, who, despite the very hilly course, beat her time from last meet, finishing her race in 26:20. After Sophia, the Illini finished 14th-17th, while also starting and ending with an An(n)ika. Anika Lovisa led the pack with a quick time of 26:27, a time she must have put all her energy into because she was very excited to go to Culvers after the meet. Samantha Anderson quickly followed Anika, racing 26:35, securing her a top 5 spot for the Illini. Emma Bergmann said at our Friday pasta dinner that she was feeling super fast and was feeling quicker by the moment. Despite the possible sarcasm in her statement, she did end up having a fantastic race, finishing her race in 26:45. Annika Luthe rounded out this amazing group, running an amazing 26:53. Sennah Rashidian and Anna Zlatic were the next to finish, both ending up with final times of 27:28! Sennah barely outkicked Anna, beating her by 0.27 seconds. Both ended up crushing the hills and running a fantastic race. Dana Reed was next, pushing herself to her limits and earning herself a new pr of 28:17. Great job racing Dana! Jocelyn Cielo-Grande crushed her 6k debut, finishing in a speedy 28:26. What an amazing job on her first 6k! Lia Tondeva was another one of our fantastic racers who stepped up to the challenge and ran quicker than she did at Augustana. Lia completed her race in 28:41. But not far behind Lia was Charlotte Kroll, running a speedy 28:49 and outkicking a Loyola runner trying to catch up on the last straightaway. Danuta Carvalho was our next runner, who also earned herself a new PR after running faster than her Purdue time. She ran an amazing time of 29:37. The one and only Mira Bhimani finished next. Mira had a great race, almost catching another Mizzou runner at the end and finishing with a time of 30:01. Kiley Senall had a strong race, matching her time at Purdue, despite this course being much hillier. Kiley was our last runner and crossed the line in 30:57. Our women were tough as nails and took 3rd place overall, while racing against a lot of tough teams. Overall the consensus was that the course was very tough, although there was a downhill toward the end that was surrounded by beatiful fall trees, which made the last bit of the race enjoyable. Many of the women warned the men of spots on the course which had bad footing or areas with lots of mud. Now it was time of the men to get ready.
After the warning from the women, and the look of pure exhaustion, many of the men were worried. The men also decided to warmup by running up the big hill that they would have to run up twice during the race, possibly worrying even more runners. However, once the men got to the line and started their strides, Coach Ethan calmed everyone’s nerves with an inspiring speech. Terry also provided a bit of humor on the line by trying to fit his feet into Avery’s spare running shoes which were definitely too small for him. The men ran back through the tunnel the women made, and towed the line ready for the cannon to fire.
The cannon blasted off, and so did our men, charging down the field and up the large hill for the first time. By the end of the race, the first to cross the line was Percy Moser once again. While Percy said he thought he could have gone faster, he still took 5th place overall and ran a fantastic time of 26:31. Ethan Forsell was our next finisher, quickly following Percy. Ethan also seemed slightly disappointed but still placed 7th and quickly crossed the line in 27:04. I think these guys are being too hard on themselves and believe that they did great! Albert Szewczyk finished his race in 27:31, beating his previous season time from Purdue. Great job Albert! Jensen Bidmead ran an amazing race, almost catching up to Albert with his time of 27:39. Jensen was moving up places the whole race, beating out many of the runners who started their race too quick. Jeremy Perez ran a quick race, crossing the line in 27:47. Jeremy is always a fantastic team runner, encouraging the teammates around him while he’s running. I (Maxwell Maloney) finished next with a time of 27:55. Blake Salbilla finished right behind me, finishing in 28:03. Blake showed that his Augustana time was a fluke by beating his time by over a minute. Amazing job Blake! Unfortunately, he told me that he didn’t think there were going to be any more hills after the 2nd time going over the big one, leaving him with little energy for the next hills. Alex Herrera finished right behind Blake, finishing in a swift 28:06. James Stanley bowled himself down the straightaway, striking down the other teams and not leaving any places to spare! James crossed the line in 28:37. Everett Sinson was determined to have a great race, joining one of the top packs at the beginning of the race. It paid off with a great time of 28:43. Simon Hildy ran a strong race, finishing under 30 with a time of 28:59. Thomas Harmon is looking even better after his rust buster last meet. He raced even faster and finished with a time of 29:03. Marucs Finley ran over 2 minutes faster than his last race, finishing in 29:52. He told me next race, he wants to try to take another 2 minutes off his time. Morgan Frederick showed his previous injury isn’t holding him back by shaving off a minute from his last race. He finished in a speedy 29:53. Keith Solberg tried his best to catch up to Alex Demas, even passing him at one point, but Alex was just too speedy. Alex finished in 30:07, with Keith right on his tail at 30:08. They both ran a great race! Jonah Diehl didn’t listen to racers worrying about how difficult the course would be. He went out there and raced another PR, crossing the line in 30:36. Sam Lambert was next, racing his first race of the season with a time of 31:11. He kept calm before the race by lying in the grass and watching the sky with Percy. Steven Roberts also ran his first 8k of the season, crossing the line in 31:21. Brendan Graven ran a nice time of 31:24. Unfortunately for Brendan, after the race, he had to bring the tent all the way up another hill and back to his truck. Max Boughner ran his season best, beating his Purdue time with his new time of 32:40. Great racing Max! Ryland O’Hanlon stayed strong through the course and ran a wonderful race, finishing with a time of 33:09. Avery Bennett was another racer who defied the odds and ran a Pr. Avery ran a great time of 34:12. Miles Moomaw finished next and raced a fantastic PR. Miles ran 34:46, crushing his time from Augustana. The next finisher was Robert Henkel, who stayed under the 26 minute threshold by running a swift time of 35:59. Finally, we have Terry Ryson, who almost took 3 minutes off his time from last meet! Terry was also a great teammate, even taking some pictures of our runners who were passing by while he was still racing. Terry loved the shoes we used for the race and can’t wait to get his own pair. The Men’s team had a great day, taking 2nd place overall. We had lots of great performances, and I can’t wait to see how we’ll do at Nats.
After the races, we picked up our awards and took some team pictures. And headed to get food. Most Cars stopped at Culver’s, and some even stopped at the Cheese Castle. The cars, unfortunately, had to brave the rain and drive back through a storm to make it back to Champaign. The team did so well, and I’m so excited to see how nationals turn out.
Your dear friend,
Maxw Maloney