The Illinois Cross Country Club competed at the Augustana Brismann-Lundeen Invitational on Friday, September 23. In a strong showing, the men finished seventh and the women finished fourteenth overall. The race was split this year, and IXC competed in the Blue division, reserved for last season’s top 20 teams. While the first meet of the season was unusually cool, it was hot on the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill. as the club mixed it up with the meet’s perennially strong competition.
The men’s team improved from an eleventh place finish last year to take seventh. Once again, sophomore Willy “Weem” Wolf led the way for the club, highlighting the team’s “young talent.” Senior David “Cliff” Choi was the next runner for IXC, capping off his Augustana career on a high note. His sophomore year, the Brismann-Lundeen was David’s breakout performance, his first top-seven finish, and he hasn’t looked back. Last year though, David tragically lost his shoe during the race, so his time and place were never recorded. This year, David managed to keep his shoe on in one of his top finishes for the club. Sophomore Josh Feldman finished three seconds behind David in another strong performance.
Senior Jared Ripoli rounded out the top five for the men in his final run at Augustana. Just behind was grad student Auburn Jimenez, making his season debut for the club. “The King of Campus” will fill the club’s token graduate student role this season left behind by departed elder statesman Bradford Coyle. Junior Michael Frintner made his return to the top-seven as the team’s seventh runner after a NIRCA All-American finish at Nationals last year.
Michael Gerkin had a strong debut; he was the team’s eighth runner in 27:23. Gerkin was familiar with the Saukie Golf Course, as he attended an Augustana meet last year on an official visit, but IXC was able to win the recruiting battle for the elusive Gerkin. Freshman Mackenzie Bach also put together a solid debut in 27:51. In his second collegiate race, freshman Jacob Anderson saw a massive improvement. The Crystal Lake product dropped nearly three minutes off his time from EIU.
Shout-outs are also due to the athletes who made their club debuts at Augustana: junior transfer Richard Skogsberg, freshman Alan Zhou and freshman Jarrod “Rod” Meyer.
On the women’s side, savvy senior Emma Burkhardt finished first for the women. The women’s captain was once again closely followed by sophomore Anneliese Schulz. Freshman Emily Condic was third for the women, representing the third part of the women’s front-running triple threat.
In her second race with the team, senior Ellie Palacios was fourth. Junior Erin McKee finished as the team’s fifth runner once again. She has been going steady as a scoring contributor since returning from a semester abroad last spring. Senior Hannah Smith and sophomore Jillian Monier completed the women’s top seven.
Noel Brindise had a solid season debut and Megan Frintner put in a solid follow-up effort in her second race of the season. Freshman Jennifer Lemke also made her club debut.
The club races next at UW-Parkside’s Lucian Rosa Invite on Saturday, October 8. The meet is held in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a short drive from Chicago, so we hope to see plenty of support for IXC!
