While the Grizzly Invite is technically the first meet of the season, the Boiler Up Invitational is, in many ways, the true first meet of the season. It is the first time the men’s and women’s teams race the regular distances for NIRCA cross country, 8 kilometers and 6 kilometers, respectively, and it is the first opportunity for us to race against other club teams. These are the same teams we will later compete against at Regionals and Nationals. For these reasons, a strong showing at this meet is usually indicative of a successful season in the future. For example, the men’s team won this meet last year, taking home the hammer, and then went on to finish fourth at Nationals. All of this is to say that the team was very excited to potentially spoil Purdue’s home meet and claim the hammer once again.
As this meet was held in Indiana, which is in the Eastern time zone, everyone had to leave extra early (5:30 am!) to make up for losing an hour on the trip to West Lafayette. There were worries about rain, but luckily it held off for the races. Instead the conditions were quite ideal for us central Illinois runners as we are very used to training through cloudy, dreary days in Champaign-Urbana.
The first race of the day was the women’s 6k, which was slated to start at 9:30. As 9:30 approached, the women’s team finished the last of their warmups and was race-ready. “Big dog big steak” was heard throughout the starting corral, and then they were called to the line. The gun went off, and the women went off, with the men’s team chanting “I-L-L” followed by “I-N-I!” First to cross the line for the women was Violet Schnizlein in a time of 23:35 for second overall. Violet was one of many to comment on the hills on the course and how she regretted checking her watch for pace while ascending one of them. Next up was Lenny Sterritt, who placed eighth overall with a time of 27:01. Lenny was the first to finish within a group of herself, Fati Siddiqui, and Sophia Libman, who were all, unfortunately, led off the course by a Purdue runner. Lenny stated that being led astray gave her extra motivation to run faster, though. Right behind her in ninth place, also running 27:01, was Fati, who was also annoyed about the impromptu extension but still finished strong. Rounding out the group was Sophia Libman, who also ran long but was still happy with her time of 27:21 for eleventh place.
Continuing the strong showing from the team was Caitlin Thomas, who finished twelfth and ran a time of 27:42. As this was her first 6k, Caitlin was quite happy to receive an automatic PR. Following her in fourteenth place was Annika Luthe, running 27:53. Annika missed her running buddies from the Grizzly Invite but overall enjoyed the race. Jennifer Ruiz was next, running 28:12 for nineteenth place. Jennifer tried to enjoy the moment as this is her last first race (we will miss you next year!). Maddie Gentsch followed, who, despite not always knowing where she was going, enjoyed her first 6k and ran 29:31. After her was Haley McCune in a time of 30:39. Rounding out the incredible performance for the women’s team, in a time of 34:44, was Kyariane Joseph. This was her first 6k as well, and she’s excited to race more with the team! Overall, the women’s team ran very well and finished second overall.
After cheering on the women, the men’s team did their warmups as well–everyone still hoping for no rain. For now though, the conditions would stay ideal. As the men approached the start line, the idea of winning this meet in back-to-back years circulated people’s minds, and then the gun went off. As the men raced, the women cheered them on from the sideline, and a small Tarps Off section was started at the finish line. Max Henige would lead the way for the team, finishing in second place with a time of 26:34. He stated that he was happy with how strong he felt throughout the rolling hills. Next up was Jeremy Perez, who ran 27:26 for fifth place. Jeremy felt that he pushed the flats well and moved up through the packs and eventually broke away to finish strong. Alex Demas was right behind him, finishing in seventh place in a time of 27:34. Alex said that he had a lot of fun, especially toward the end when he barely outkicked a runner from Ball State in a drag race down the final home stretch. Following Alex was Blake Saliba in 27:40 for ninth place. He also stated that he was happy with his performance overall but specifically his kick. Braden Stillmaker was next, and he ran a time of 27:43 to secure tenth place. Braden felt he could’ve done better, but he was happy that he was still in the top ten. Jensen Bidmead followed in a smooth and controlled effort for a time of 28:04 for fourteenth place. Right behind him, in a time of 28:19, was Jack Wilkinson. Jack felt that he struggled on the hills but pushed well toward the end to secure seventeenth place. Kevin Diederich was next, finishing in eighteenth place with a time of 28:30 in his IXC debut.
Next up was Keith Solberg, who was unhappy despite running a significant PR of 28:31 because “PRs don’t matter” and he thinks he can run faster. Closely following was Max Maloney, who finished in 28:32. Max was proud of himself for battling through injury last week, and he enjoyed being able to work with Keith and Jack throughout the race. Next to cross the line, but the first freshman to finish the race, was Gunnar Sulzen in a time of 29:05. Following Gunnar was fellow freshman Eli Scott, who ran a time of 29:17. Eli wanted to go a little bit faster, but he was happy to receive the automatic PR as this was his first 8k. Only ten seconds later, Alex Beckerman finished his race in 29:27. Then, in a time of 29:40, the world’s biggest Nike fan and Oregon native, Ben Hoffman, crossed the finish line. Next up was Jerome Graessle, who was hopefully less sick and less tired than he was for the Grizzly 5k and ran 29:48. Rounding out the sub thirty club was Kyle McCoskey in a time of 29:54. Kyle was glad to be sub thirty officially after running tempos at this pace over the summer.
Brendan Graven ran 30:02 and was next. Brendan showed why he was voted President as he was encouraging Kyle and Jerome toward the end of their races while racing himself. Second-in-command Jonah Diehl was right behind, running a time of 30:19. Jonah felt that he could’ve pushed more in the middle part of the race, but overall he was happy with a new PR. Roughly forty seconds behind Jonah was Eric Ramirez, who finished in a time of 30:57. Seasoned veteran Gabriel Inojosa turned back the clock to run a time of 31:13. Following behind was Morgan Frederick, who enjoyed the hillier course on his way to a time of 31:36. Roughly thirty seconds later, in a time of 32:07, Evan Kemph completed his race, and right behind him was Josef Gabriel with a time of 32:10.
Alan Gu finished next in a time of 32:14. Alan may have been hoping for some rain because then he could put some of his steeplechase practice from last spring to work. Closely following was Marcus Finley, who ran a time of 32:25. Behind him was Adam Wilson, running 32:45. Adam was another runner to really feel the hills in the middle portion of the race.
In 32:49, Ryland O’Hanlon was next. He felt it wasn’t his day, but he was also still faster than last year. Iñigo Serrano finished shortly behind in a time of 32:51. This race marked his first-ever race for IXC and his first-ever cross country 8k! Not even a second behind Iñigo was Austin Stevenson, also in a time of 32:51. After Austin was Henry Carpenter, who ran 33:14 but felt he could’ve gone faster since he misread the distance markers and kicked too early.
Close behind, in a time of 33:17, was Liam Grady making his season debut. Similarly, Aedric Addington made his IXC debut with a time of 33:49. Just eight seconds later, Ryan Wilson finished his race with a time of 33:57, also making his IXC debut. Making it three debuts in a row, Carter Tiemann came in at 34:15 to complete his race. Brian Allison was next, running a time of 34:48 and making it two IXC races in a row. Ayden Ketelsen felt the hills on his way to a time of 34:47, stating that he considered faking an injury at the top of one of them. Starting his senior year strong was Robert Henkel with his time of 35:19. Just ten seconds after him, in a time of 35:29, was Mikey Crowe, who worked with Avery most of the race and finished strong. Miles Moomaw followed him, running 35:46, which is a faster pace than his 5k from earlier this year! Avery Bennet followed him up in his time of 36:44. Avery was happy to run with Mikey for most of the race. Behind him was Ralph Marcial, who ran 39:13. Terry Ryson rounded out the incredible performance from the men’s team with his time of 41:55, marking his return to racing for the club. Overall, the men’s team followed up the great performance from the women with a great performance of their own, earning first place at the meet and taking home the hammer.
Despite this success, it wouldn’t be a meet with the Illinois Cross Country Club if there wasn’t a controversy. Firstly, in the women’s race, multiple of our top runners were led off course by a Purdue runner. Where they went specifically, I do not know, but I heard they ran past some tennis courts. While it is impossible to know, this unexpected foray past the tennis courts may have cost the women the number one spot at this meet. Personally, I’m chalking this up as a hypothetical victory for the Illini.
To continue this trend, on the official meet results website, the winner of the men’s section is Purdue, not Illinois. This is due to a scoring bug with the fifth place finisher, a Purdue runner, who actually finished around nineteenth. Luckily, this was only a scoring bug related to the chip time, so the actual results had IXC finishing first, which is why we claimed the hammer. However, to an outside observer checking the results, it would appear Purdue won the meet. I would like to direct all readers to spot the hammer in the team photo below to prove that the men’s team won the meet.
These mild controversies did not significantly dampen our celebrations, however. Overall, the team performed very well, and the rain held off for the whole of the meet. Unfortunately, after the celebrations, the rain finally started up as we made our way to the true finish line, Culver’s.