There are two very iconic races on the second weekend of October. One is the Chicago Marathon, which attracts some of the fastest athletes from around the world. These athletes, however, tremble at the idea of competing at the other iconic race this weekend, the Lucian Rosa Invitational in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This race attracts some of the fastest DII schools in the nearby area, which made it a perfect opportunity for us to get some good competition before Regionals and Nationals.
Early Saturday morning, everyone met at the armory to drive up to Kenosha. Luckily, this meet is in C.S.T., so we did not have to wake up too early. This is the last time we’ll have to wake up significantly early, however, because the next two meets are overnight trips. Some lucky individuals (myself included) went up to the Chicagoland area the day before and were able to sleep more (705 spent the weekend in Chicago, by the way).
As we entered the park, the winding roads were flanked by tall, beautiful trees of red, yellow, and orange. The small breeze occasionally knocked leaves free from their branches to fall slowly to the ground. The course itself was a classic cross country course. One big straightaway lead to a big hill that turned into a winding path through the forest, with sprinkles of mud throughout. It was a beautiful day to race.
Quickly after arriving, the women had to warm up for the 6k. First for the club was Lenny Sterritt in a time of 24:33. Lenny was very happy with her PR of 50 seconds, which she described as “phenomenal.” Following Lenny was her high school teammate Violet Schnizlein in a time of 25:13. Both Lenny and Violet went back to Chicagoland to cheer on a former teammate in the Chicago Marathon the next day. Close behind was Caitlin Thomas running a time of 25:28, who was really enjoying the race until the 4k mark, where the race started to feel considerably more challenging. Following her, in a time of 27:14, was Annika Luthe. She had a very literal and figurative up and down story of a race. At the beginning, she did not feel good, then she felt stronger, then she felt bad again, but finally at the end she rallied and finished strong.
Not far behind Annika was Anna Zlatic (or Anna Latic because she has no “z” on her keyboard) in 27:55. Anna was nice enough to record some videos for the club Instagram while I was racing, so shoutout Anna! Roughly thirty seconds behind her, in a time of 28:22, was Dana Reed. Dana mentioned how happy she was to run with a good group and that the fall leaves made the course very beautiful. Dana would also take photos for the men’s race later, so shoutout Dana! Right behind her was Maddie Gentsch in 28:23, who was very happy to run better than her last race and PR by over a minute. Following her was Lauren Frake with a time of 29:48. Lauren was glad to be cheered on by her parents during her first ever 6k (automatic PR!). Next was Haley McCune in30:13, who also really enjoyed the pretty course on the way to a PR. After her, Greta Snyder finished in a time of 30:40. She had also never run a 6k before, so she was very happy with the automatic PR as well. She’s also excited to race at Gans Creek next week as she has raced there before. Rounding out the incredible performance from the women’s team was Kiley Senall with a time of 33:32. When asked about her race, Kiley gave a double thumbs-up and said she was happy to finish.
Next up was the men’s race. After cheering on the women and warming up, the men’s team was ready. A motto, which is similar to “remain firm,” was shared among the team circle, and then the race was off. First to cross the line for the men, in a time of 27:36, was Jensen Bidmead. Jensen loved this course as he felt strong on the uphills and even stronger the downhills. Next up was Alex Demas in a time of 27:45. Luckily, Alex was able to find time away from working on his lab report to run this blazing time. Following Alex,with a time of 28:02, was Kevin Diederich, who thought the race was “fine” but that he may have left too much in the tank for the end.Right behind him was UK native Jack Wilkinson, who finished in28:06. Jack was very happy with this race, and he stated that he felt right at home running in the mud. Following him was Head Coach Max Maloney, who had a “fire” race on his way to 28:17. Not far behind him, in a time of 28:26, was Gunnar Sulzen. Gunnar also had an amazing race, and he stated that he loved the beautiful course as well.
Close behind, also in a time of 28:26, was Braden Stillmaker. Braden felt that the hills and mud combo was not fun, especially on the second run through of the big hill. Keith Solberg, who finished in 28:57,also commented on how challenging the hills were for him. Next up was ITFC President Alex Herrera, who made his season debut in29:13. He felt he could’ve done better, but he is excited to get after it next weekend at Regionals. Right behind him was IXC’s very own President Brendan Graven. Brendan felt that he ran a “dumb” race on his way to a 30:11, but he “had fun splashing around in the mud.” Behind him was his right-hand man, Secretary Jonah Diehl with a time of 30:47. Jonah wanted to do better, but it’s hard to be too disappointed when you’re a 705 resident in Chicago for the weekend. Kyle McCoskey was caught off guard by the hills but finished strong to run a time of 30:54. Next up, in a time of 31:03, was Adam Wilson, who was happy to PR despite falling into the mud once. Right behind him, also finishing in 31:03, was Gabriel Inojosa. Gabriel stated that, as the race progressed, he always thought the next uphill was the last and kept ending up being wrong.
Next for the men was Eric Ramirez, running a time of 31:17. Eric enjoyed the race, but he did not enjoy running through all the mud. A little over a minute later Morgan Frederick finished his race in a time of 32:35. Morgan stated that he “had fun getting muddy.” This race was also the day before Morgan’s birthday—hopefully it was a good gift. Behind Morgan was his future housemate Carter Tiemann, who ran 32:55. Carter ran much better than last time, and he was happy to not die towards the end. Boston bound Walter Chang was next, finishing with a time of 33:18. Walter felt he went out too fast, but it doesn’t matter because he’s running the Boston Marathon in the spring. Shortly behind was Ryland O’Hanlon, who thought about applying the mud as war paint halfway through his time of 33:27. After Ryland was myself, Max Boughner, in a time of 33:30. Personally, I’m not very happy, so I’m going to move on. Next up was Iñigo Serrano in 34:06. Iñigo stated that he felt dead early on as the first hill was very challenging.
Mikey Crowe was not too unhappy with his time of 35:25 as he enjoyed the race despite the mud. Miles Moomaw also noticed the large amount of mud, but overall felt the race was okay, and he finished in a time of 36:16. Behind him was Austin Stevenson in 36:39, who struggled a lot after the all uphill first mile. Tryggve Vilaseca gave his best while running a time of 41:11, so he was happy. Alex Clunan rounded out the men’s team performance in a time of 47:03. This was Alex’s longest ever race, but he was happy he was able to finish it.
It would not be an IXC meet if there was not any controversy. This time, the controversy was because the men’s and women’s teams were not scored. Why? I do not really know, but I assume it is related to this meet being NCAA and us being a club team. I heard through the grapevine, however, that the men’s team finished sixth and the women’s team finished fifteenth. Despite not being officially scored, the team competed well and fit in well with the collegiate field.
This controversy was not the most impactful of the day, however, because mutiny arose within the cars with the goal of not going to Culver’s after the meet. Personally, I was quite unhappy with this decision, but I decided to go along with the majority and go to Raising Canes instead. Some cars maintained status quo and still went to Culver’s while others went to Panera. After that, all the cars went back to Champaign-Urbana.
Except that was not the end of IXC running for the weekend! Two runners, Max Henige and Glenn Hadcock, both ran the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Max ran an incredible time of 2:27:40, which was much faster than his goal! We look forward to you (hopefully) running NIRCA Nationals in one month! Next up was Glenn, who also met his goal by running 2:39:17! Glenn had to seriously power through the pain as he may have fractured his foot during the race, but he still finished strong! Many members of IXC were present cheering people on, and there were also many IXC alums racing as well.