Regionals 2021: Men and Women Defend Turf, Secure Hardware

As the sun rose up over the infamous arboretum hill, there was a palpable feeling in the air that just screams cross country. The leaves starting to change, the temperatures cooling down, and the impending sense of a post-season race combine to make an atmosphere that just can’t be beat. Race day temperatures ranged between 50º-55º, wind was basically nonexistent, and the sun occasionally peaked out from the clouds. A perfect fall weather day, and the course was in good condition, ready to be run on by some of the best athletes NIRCA has to offer. Before I get into the race recap I want to give a shout-out to the regional coordinator and JV athlete Cade Baker who successfully coordinated his first home meet, taking care of lots of logistics and making sure everything ran smoothly. Thank you for your work Cade, well done. Let’s get into it!

Cade has manners, so the ladies took to the course first. As I said earlier, the conditions were fantastic with cool weather and a course in good shape. The arboretum is well known as a slow course, but it’s one that our athletes have been running on all season in workouts. The ladies went out there and crushed it, conquering the hill and the competition, putting up some very fast times and a few PRs. Brisa McGrath led the charge for the Illini and for most of the race, really putting herself out there in an attempt to win. She came up just short, but took home a well earned 2nd place in a time of 24:00. Annie Brunton, running under a different alias, had one of the best performances of the day, running 26:12 for 22nd place overall in her first 6k for the club. It was a bit of a scare to see Grace Gudwien dealing with a lot of pain in her hip as she finished her race, and we are really hoping it’s nothing serious and she can race in two weeks at nationals. Grace’s toughness yielded a time of 26:20. Mikeelie Jensen continued her consistency as a staple of the women’s top 7 in a very well run race, finishing in 26:23 to put up low points for the team. Closing out the scorers for the team was Brianna Legner, who had an incredible race and ran a PR on the slow course of 26:42. Congrats on securing your top 7 spot for nationals! These awesome performances provided the women with a nice bit of hardware as they took home the trophy for the 3rd place team! These ladies exceeded expectations and really deserve the recognition for the work they’ve put in all season. Congratulations! You killed it.

Following closely behind Brianna was Maggie Abbs who ran an awesome race to finish in 26:48. Maggie and Brianna worked really well together throughout the race, showing some awesome teamwork. Up next was a duo of Bridget Brokaw and Wilma Rishko who showed some similar teamwork to race together and finish with speedy times of 27:07 and 27:09 respectively. Another duo, this time of grad students, finished right together. This time it was Natalie Maguire and Katherine Vande Pol. Natalie continued the best season of running she’s ever had with a PR of 27:41, while Kat took it carefully, easing back into racing after an injury, running 27:43. Zoe Jacquat seemed to enjoy her first race of the season and was caught smiling in a few pictures. She ran 27:52. Next was Kelly Bickhart who continued her awesome debut season with another great race, finishing in 27:54. Superstar seniors Gabriela Aguilar-Ripley and MaryBeth Feeley finished right together in great times of 28:14 and 28:15. Claire Casiello has been working super hard this season, putting in super consistent mileage. She had a solid race, running 28:54, as she looks for a big race in two weeks at nationals. Closing out this awesome group of women was Lauren Bartels, who has finally been feeling better after a long-lasting sickness. She ran a season-best time of 29:27. Awesome racing ladies! I’m really excited to see all your hard work this season pay off at nationals.

As the men’s team meandered over to the start line, expectations were high. Two years prior, they dominated this meet, putting six runners in the top ten, and securing a dominant win as a team. The pressure was on to repeat as regional champions and achieve a similarly dominant performance. Following warning commands at one minute, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, and 5 seconds, the air horn finally cried out to start the race, and they were off. Eldon Warner, sporting a fresh mullet, stole the show, won the meet, and the hearts of the fans cheering on the sidelines. He ran 25:43. Look out NIRCA. Next was Bram Osterhout who raced this meet a few times in his undergrad for WashU’s club. He set a big “P-Arb” and showed us what he’s capable of in his first race for our club, running 26:12 for an extremely impressive performance and second place overall. Stud freshman Stephen Barretto secured 5th place overall, running 26:28. He’s absolutely crushing his first season on the club and is looking for a fast time in two weeks. For weeks leading up to the meet, Cade told me over and over that he was going to give everyone who beat me a medal. Turns out he was right, as I, Jeffrey Hesselbein, got 11th place in 26:55, just getting outkicked at the line for the last medal. Oops. Closing out the scorers was Justin Ostrem who closed hard for 15th place in 27:03. Justin is hitting his stride just in time for championship season, and looks to have a big race at nationals. This year’s meet was much more competitive than two years prior, but the men did just enough to secure the victory as a team over Minnesota and Wisconsin, who both had really strong performances. This is an awesome group that’s been performing really well all season, and there are definitely some ambitious goals for the championship race at nationals. 

Will Gravelle ran his first race since Chicago, and although he isn’t fully recovered yet, he still ran 27:18, an impressive time for the challenging course. Coach Spencer Nelson had his best performance so far this season, running 27:23 to close out the top 7. A few seconds back was the trio of Quinn Born, John Wiser, and Cadyn Grafton running 27:30-27:31 all together. Quinn absolutely went off, running significantly faster than he has all season on a slower course. John had a tough day, and had a mid-race puke but held on well. Cadyn continued his consistent season and should be knocking on the door of sub-27 at nats. Sawyer Madell has had a rough couple weeks with running, and still ran an impressive time of 27:50. Kyle Kenmotsu continued his consistent racing with a great arboretum time of 28:43. Alex Kogen ran 28:57 before going back to heckling his business 101 students. Arthur Mazzeo just snuck under 29 minutes in 28:59 in his first post-marathon race. John Burns showed his footspeed, closing super hard in the home-stretch for a new PR of 29:00. Jacob Fleck, Nolan Enright, and Jordan Meyer all finished together in 29:09-29:11, all of them showing out in some really strong performances. Aaron Lyubansky definitely felt at home on his former high school course, and had a strong performance for 29:16, knocking on the door of sub-29. Lake Zurich boy Jack Mason made his IXC debut, running an automatic 8k PR of 29:20. Jeffrey Lu also made his IXC debut and ran a great race for 29:42. Phillip Hu made his official IXC racing debut, running over a minute faster than his time trial on the course last year and dipping under 30 for the first time in 29:54. Closely behind him was Jason Palafox who also just dipped under 30 in 29:57. Max Hartmann returned to racing after a few years to run 30:16. The legendary Liam Bots ran his first race of the season in 30:46. It was yet another club debut for Alex Wang, who ran 31:11 for a PR. Vignesh Ravibaskar gutted out a 31:29 in a hard fought race. Justin Baysore ran his first race of the season and crushed it in an awesome time of 31:37. Griffin Rhode had one of the performances of the day as he ran 32:33 for a PR by almost 90 seconds!! Brennan Taylor had his club debut, running 33:39 before returning to his post as a troop. The next five finishers for the Illini came through back to back, led by Charley Hoppis who had his best race of the season in a huge PR of 34:09. Old track man Beau Barber decided to try cross country for the first time, and showed some old man strength to run 34:14. Esteemed Clubhaus member Tom Bleasdale was able to run his first race of the season in 34:22. Isaac Shifferer ran 34:25. You should see him play volleyball, it’s incredible. Nathaniel Lenning finished his first race of the season to run a PR of 34:33. John Feeley violated several NIRCA bylaws and will face NIRCA criminal trial. He ran 34:57. Gabe Benson ran 35:28. From puppeteering on Gravity Falls to running fast, he does it all. Closing out the day was James Meadows who ran another huge PR of 37:58 to end the meet on a high note. 

Guys, this team is special. It’s become more and more clear as the season has gone on. The unique combination of skills and personalities makes practice the highlight of my day each and every day. Not to get too emotional, but as a graduating senior, there’s no other group I would want to have my last ride with. The days are counting down now, there’s only 2 weeks left until all our hard work culminates at nationals. It’s time to start thinking about and visualizing your race, and getting excited for the best event and trip of the semester. I know I’m excited. I’d also recommend talking to me or another board member/upperclassmen about the nationals experience to get an idea of how much the trip means and just how awesome it is. Until then, see you at practice!

Love,

Jeffrey <3