After a dominant showing at Olivet, the Illinois Cross Country club continued to put the NCAA on notice, showing off just how strong Division IV is when it comes to running. Augustana College hosted us for the Brissman-Lundeen Invite on a beautiful Saturday morning, changing up the usual Friday night gun time for this meet. The lovely Saukie Golf Course is always a favorite amongst our runners as it’s a fast course where many people run PRs. This was certainly the case last weekend, with many of our runners posting their fastest times as we rounded out the regular season. Let’s get into the recap!
The women started the afternoon off, running their first 6k of the season with great results. Leading our women, and all the women for that matter, was Diane Makovic, who ran a stellar 22:58.1 to bring home her 1st collegiate 1st place finish. Diane is cruising and is definitely in the mix for an All-American finish at Nationals. Brisa McGrath continued a great senior season, posting a speedy 23:14.6 PR finish and is looking to dominate her last postseason with the club. Claire Casiello came into the day hoping to break 26 and instead broke 25(!!), finishing in 24:50.2 and earning herself a snazzy t-shirt to go along with her 6k PR. Emma Bergmann came across just after Claire, finishing in 25:00.3. I know she wanted sub-25 for her first 6k, but it will definitely be coming if she keeps up her current impressive form (in her defense, the course might’ve been a tad long). Alyson Ficca also completed her first 6k, crossing the line right after Emma in a strong, consistent race that earned her a 25:06.0 finish. Both her and Emma should have sub-25 in the bag come Regionals! Our next finisher was Evelyn Rowan, running a 25:54.6 and displaying that even an extra 1k isn’t a challenge she can’t handle. Madam President Maddy Feehan ran her first XC race since Nats last year and crushed it, running 26:30.0 with a fast kick to beat a competitor with questionable navigational skills. Maddy closed out the top 7 for our women, and ensured that they would take home 1st place! Anna Zlatic was our next runner, finishing in 26:45.2 for a great first 6k! After Anna we had an awesome team effort from Lauren Brunk and Lauren Bartels, who ran 27:52.8 and 28:11.8, respectively. Brunk ran her first XC race since her freshman year and did amazing, pushing the pace and working together with Bartels. Bartels pushed through some discomfort for an effort that was just off of her PR, meaning she is looking to smash it come Regionals. Mikeelie Jensen showed that she’s not just a Mid-Distance specialist, finishing with a time of 30:24.8. Hopefully that ankle continues to hold up! Allison Kokal ran her first 6k with the club and continued her trend of improvement with a 31:31.4 finish. Her pace for this 6k was faster than her last 5k, she’s getting better every week! Laine Hackmann and Elizabeth Coats finished one right after the other, running 32:10.3 and 32:12.8. Both ran their first 6ks with IXC and crushed it, putting up results to be proud of and a good baseline to work off heading deeper into the fall. Christina Li ran a solid 32:29.6, looking strong as she pushed through the extra kilometer. Anna Winnicki also ran a good race, running 33:47.2 in a faster pace than her 5k time as well! Reiss Christensen took a break from turning your favorite webmaster into a meme to secure a time of 34:08.6. Finally, Reagan Maccauley brought home a 38:23.7 for her first result with IXC. Overall, it was a great day for the women with lots of fast times and yet another 1st place finish! Watch out NIRCA!!
After the women crushed the competition, it was time for the men to do the same. Kicking off our runners was Eldon Warner, who just cannot get enough of this course. After running a PR here last year, Eldon did it again and ran 24:34.4 for a dominant 1st place finish that paced the field by over a minute. Adam Gorcyca (25:59.2) and Ethan Forsell (25:59.5) raced each other for the last 1k, but Adam managed to get the best of Ethan (barely). Ethan can’t be too upset with the outcome though, as he and Adam made sure that IXC went 1-2-3. John Wiser ran a smooth 26:20.2 for a PR and still has more in the tank as he looks to avenge last year’s Nationals. Spencer Nelson showed why he’s the man in charge, with his excellent training netting himself a 26:42.3 PR. Spencer was our last scorer and he made sure the big dogs ate, with the men also bringing home 1st place as a team against NCAA competition. Thomas Harmon put his All-State bonafides on display, running a 26:53.3 in one of the more impressive freshman debuts I’ve seen for the club. Justin Ostrem ran a 27:03.2 and although he wasn’t delighted with his finish, he has always been able to push through adversity and make his way into the top-7 ever since he was a freshman (I’d make a joke calling him old here, but it’s a bit played out by this point). John Burns finally beat the Tempo Loop merchant allegations, running a 28:02.0 to clinch a big PR off the concrete. Cadyn Grafton and Porter Shawver finished in a close one, running 28:27.5 and 28:30.5 respectively. Both ran strong races and will look to keep cruising come November. Mikey Smart and Adam Lupatkin also finished neck and neck, with Mikey barely edging out Adam for a time of 28:40.1. Big props to Adam though because he ran a huge minute and a half PR, crossing the line at 28:41.4. Phillip Hu was in the mix with them as well, finishing in 28:42.5. Despite his disappointment with his time, he has more to give for our final two races and will be making strides over the next few weeks.
Norb Nieves finally got the result he’s been looking for since freshman year, shaking off injuries for a speedy 29:15.2 Norb showed there’s nothing Mid about the times he can run, and he’ll keep making improvements as we move forward. Nolan Enright ran a nice 29:25.4, making O-Block proud. Simon Hildy seems to have gotten the hang of the 8k pretty quickly, dropping almost 2 minutes off his previous time for an impressive 29:43.5! Quinn Born made some nice improvement as well, dropping almost a minute from his initial 8k this season and running a cool 29:53.4. Coming soon after Quinn was our favorite Frenchman, Eliott Hacquin. Eliott ran a 30:01.6 and will be looking to go sub-30 come regionals! Gabriel Inojosa ran 30:10.4 and although he was looking to break 30, it still looks to be in the cards for him this season if he can keep up the good work he’s putting in. Jordan Wilkerson evened the tally between him and Aidan Farrell to 1-1, dropping a minute and a half from his first 8k and running 30:24.4. Although Jordan got him this time, Aidan’s race was nothing to scoff at as he ran an impressive PR of over a minute himself, coming through in 30:43.9. Leyang Zhang ran his first 8k with IXC, navigating the course in an easy 30:53.7 finish. Nick Kwentus came in right after, dropping a time of 30:54.1 after a really consistent race, improving over a minute for a PR.
Looking devilishly handsome as he ran a PR by a minute as well was Tristan Taylor, who finished in 31:06.5. Isaac Schifferer also ran a huge PR, crushing his former time and running 31:37.3 on the day and looking handsome as well, if I do say so myself. Aidan Markiewicz was close behind Isaac, following the trend and PRing in a 31:38.8 finish. Henry Hornbrook put the XC community on alert, letting everyone know he isn’t just a track guy with a HUGE 3.5 minute PR as he ran 31:46.6, while also predicting Aaron Judge would break Roger Maris’ home run record (He did). What can’t this guy do?
Charley Hoppis ran under an alias this time, but he couldn’t hide from recognition in the write-up because he ran a big PR, crossing the line in 32:17.7. Andrew Stevenson was strong out on the course as well, also running a PR as he came through in 32:32.1. Joseph Kuang ran his first 8k and PRed by default, running 32:40.5 in a really strong team effort with Travel Coordinator Thomas Tran! Thomas shaved almost a minute off his time from Olivet and will be looking to run a PR at Nationals. Jose Ocegueda Zuniga crushed his first 8k, coming soon after Thomas with a 32:50.6 finish. Consistency king Nathaniel Lenning shaved another minute off of his previous 8k and with some improvements in the last mile should be cooking by the time we hit November. Yuki Mizuno competed in the 8k for the first time, running a smooth 33:20.5 and setting himself a goal to beat for the next one. Gabe Benson wanted sub-34 and he got it, running 33:23.3 and continued to make massive strides that he should be very proud of. John Bledsoe ran a great debut race, coming through in 33:28.3 and looking to continue improving this fall. Newman’s favorite runner Griffin Rhode came through in a solid 34:25.1. Denver Soekawan shaved 50 seconds off of his first race, running a nice 34:30.2 for some big improvement. IXC newcomer Salvador Madera showed it’s better late than never to start your collegiate XC career, cruising to a 34:32.2 finish and confirming to everyone Whitney Young boys are the best members of the team. Brennan Taylor made his season debut, showing that even though you may be shorter than your 15 year old brother, you can still run good times as he finished in 35:46.9. Big win for the troops. James Meadows closed out a great day for our gentlemen, with the bunny statue again fueling him a great race and a PR as he finished in 36:53.4.
Overall, this was a day filled with personal bests, 1st place finishes, and a team culture that is coming together with every passing day. You’d be hard-pressed to find an athlete that didn’t leave with something to be proud of and even loftier goals for the next race we run. Regionals is fast approaching and although it is going to be a tough race on a hilly course with stiff competition, this team has shown over and over that it is capable of extraordinary things. IXC is primed for a great postseason and it is looking better for us each day.
P.S. It slipped my mind until the end here, but this was the biggest turnout for any XC meet in my time here! It warms my heart that we have so many people who are dedicated to competing with us. IXC is nothing without all of you wonderful runners and you all make even the worst days of running worth it.
It’s a privilege to compete with you all,
Tristan <3