The beautiful aspect of fall is not the cooler weather or the leaves changing colors–it is cross country. Our first meet of the season was a return to the Grizzly Invite in Shelbyville, Indiana, and all IXC runners were very excited to test their fitness and compete. Unfortunately, we may have been a little eager to schedule this meet on our calendar as the weather was very much still summer weather. In the lead up to the meet, the team was tasked with multiple days of 90+ degree heat (32 degrees Celsius for our international readers), only made worse by the corn sweat.
The meet was a morning meet though, so the full intensity of the sun would be partially avoided. This upside comes with the drawback of an early departure time around 5:00 am CST. Fortunately, everyone made it to the meet on time, and nothing significant was forgotten in our early morning stupor (besides the camera by former Webmaster Max Maloney).
Unlike last year, the men’s race was first, starting at 10:00 am EST. As the only club team at the meet, we expected fierce competition, but we also trusted our training and backed ourselves to compete. Reminders that the biggest dog gets the biggest steak (not the biggest stick!) rang out as we approached 10:00. The gun went off, and the boys went out hot!
First to cross the line for IXC was Braden Stillmaker, making an impressive debut running 16:09 for eighth overall. Braden claimed that he had a lot of fun for the first two miles, but that the “last mile was a grind.” Directly behind him was Jeremy Perez, improving his time from last year with a 16:13 for ninth overall. Jeremy described the race as a “boastful sweat fest,” which I do not fully understand the meaning of. Despite this, it feels like an apt description. Alex Demas was next, who was able to run 16:20 for twelfth place despite almost needing to drop the kids off at the pool around mile two. Rounding out the top twenty was a time of 16:25 from Jensen Bidmead, who enjoyed chasing Alex Demas. Although perhaps he’d change his answer if he were aware of Alex’s midrace gastrointestinal complications. Quickly following was Jack Wilkinson, who ran 16:28 and described the race as “Uh… painful.” Jack was not the only one to comment on the heat, as our next finisher, Blake Saliba, also mentioned how the heat affected him on his way to running 16:43, but he overall enjoyed running with everyone. Following Blake was our new Coach, Max Maloney. While Max did forget to bring the camera, he is forgiven as his mind was on coaching (not everyone can cut it as IXC Webmaster). Max ran 16:45 and stated that he was happy with the team’s performance and that he was excited for the future.
Eli Scott was next for the men, running 17:19. Like many others, Eli stated that the middle part of the race was challenging, but that the last kick was very fun. Following shortly was Kyle McCoskey with a time of 17:24, who pointed out the heat when describing his race but also that he improved from last year. The next runner for IXC was Cole Payne, who was happy with how he progressed throughout the race, passing many people on his way to a time of 17:49. Jerome Graessle was another runner making his IXC debut with a time of 17:55. After his race, Jerome said, “I’m sick. I’m tired, and I’m sick of being tired.” Unfortunately, our next runner, Walter Chang, followed this theme by describing his time of 18:06 as “terrible.”
Upstanding citizen Morgan Frederick was next, who finished in a time of 18:11 despite being tired from volunteering for the club on Thursday. Right behind Morgan was myself (Max Boughner), with a decent performance running 18:11 as well. Personally, I would’ve liked to go faster, but this was faster than last year, so I cannot complain too much (maybe I can complain a little). Right behind us was President Brendan Graven in a time of 18:14, who also commented on the heat and how it wore him down as the race progressed. Dagim Tesfaw was next, running 18:31. He “thought he was going to die” during the race, but afterwards, he felt the race overall went better than he expected. The next runner after Dagim was Henry Rotunno, who finished in 18:49 and stated that the race was “electric.” Following him up with a time of 19:12 was Ryland O’Hanlon, who was happy to improve his time by thirty seconds from last year. Austin Stevenson was next for us, running a time of 19:36. Austin said that he went out peak high school fitness and then slowed down, but that he had fun.
When asked about his race, Alan Gu, who finished in 19:50, gave an enthusiastic double thumbs up stating that he felt pretty good and kicked well at the end. Ayden Ketelsen was next to cross the line for the team in a time of 20:21 and another member of the Went-Out-Too-Fast Club. Mikey Crowe ran similarly, stating that he pushed too early, forgetting the race was a 5k, not a three mile, finishing in a time of 20:29. Ryan Taylor was right behind Mikey, running 20:48. Conversely, Ryan felt that he went out too slow and settled too much in the middle of the race. Brian Allison made his race debut, despite training with the team last year, finishing in 21:03 in “hot” conditions. Next up, with a time of 22:31, was Avery Bennet, who wasn’t too happy with his race, but “was okay with it.” Miles Moomaw followed. Miles felt that he could’ve done better with his time of 24:16 but also that it will improve throughout the season. Caden Streff rounded out the good team performance for the men with a 24:58. When asked about his race, he faked me out by first saying “it was a ten out of ten” and then clarifying that he meant “for difficulty.”
After cheering on the men’s team and warming up, the women’s team was ready to race. The sun, now higher in the sky, was beating down on everyone, but spirits remained high. The gun went off and everyone raced to get a good position before the first turn. Newcomer Violet Schnizlein was first to cross the line for the club with a time of 20:32—snagging herself seventeenth place overall as well. Violet stated that she went out hard, which created a nice buffer for later in the race as she tired. Caitlin Thomas was next, running a “challenging but rewarding” 21:19 to claim thirty-third place. Shortly following was Lenny Sterritt, who ran 21:40. Lenny said she was affected by the heat, but that she appreciated the Tarps Off section the men’s team created towards the finish line.
In 22:06, Charlotte Kroll crossed the finish line. Charlotte also felt the heat but was overall happy with the race. Evil queen Anna Zlatic finished in a time of 22:29. She enjoyed running with a pack of herself, Annika Luthe, and Danuta Carvalho. Annika, who ran 22:30, pointed out how fun it was to race together as well. Danuta Carvalho rounded out the group with a 22:42, which she stated met the group’s B goal for the race. Dana Reed was next, running 24:12, which beat her goal of 24:30 despite the heat. Lauren Frake followed with a time of 24:42. This was Lauren’s return to cross country as she hadn’t raced in two years. Kyariane Joseph was next and ran 28:29. She was another runner to suffer from the heat, but she also stated she was excited to continue running with the team as she ran all four years of high school. Piper Rieger rounded out the great team performance with a 34:34. She also stated that the high heat made her race extra challenging.
Overall, the men’s and women’s teams placed second and sixth, respectively, which is a great accomplishment considering we were the only club team at the meet. The only blemish on an otherwise incredible day was the Great Grizzly Invite T-Shirt Schism. In the meet information, the organizers stated that all participants that placed top twenty would get a free t-shirt. This was not a surprise because the same was true last year (and multiple of our runners won a shirt then). Unfortunately, the organizers of the Grizzly Invite decided that, this year, club runners would not be eligible to win any t-shirts. Frankly, this was a disgrace of the highest level. As one of our own men’s top twenty finishers, Alex Demas put it, “I specifically ran this race with the goal of winning a t-shirt,” so to be ineligible is incredibly disappointing. The men’s team and women’s team both finished ahead of the hosts, Franklin College, who only had one runner make the top twenty (or should I say top twenty four since that is what it truly was when you eliminate the club runners) on the men’s side and none for the women’s. We had four for the men and one for the women. I will leave the question of “which team earned the t-shirts more” to the reader.
Despite this controversy, the meet overall was a lot of fun. Perhaps the greatest part of meet days is the post-meet Culver’s, which was enjoyed by all before we headed back to Champaign-Urbana.