It’s September and still way too hot out which means cross country season is among us once again and, not even two weeks after classes began, the Illinois Cross Country Club found itself at its first meet of the 2018 season in Aurora.
With little to no troubles (besides a car breaking down), 44 of us, including nearly 15 freshmen and a couple non-freshmen newcomers, arrived at the Oakhurst Forest Preserve, ready to toe the line with some elite runners from varsity teams.
Thanks to some wonderful travel coordinating by our fantastic travel coordinator, Alex Hanskat, almost all of our cars arrived with plenty of time before the runners had to head out on their warm ups. After warm ups and some final race preparations, 5 o’clock rolled around and it was time for the first of the night’s two races: the women’s 6k.
As top tier returners, senior Anneliese Schulz and junior Julia Schultz (who are not sisters for anyone who didn’t notice the extra letter) led the lady Illini from the gun and worked off each other throughout the nearly 4 mile race. Though doubtful she would be able to pull off a PR in the dismal ground conditions, Schulz opened fast and ran tough in the mud. She ended up with a 22 second PR, coming in at 23:26 for 5th place. She finished right behind Schultz who finished in 23:20. That’s over 30 seconds faster than her time from Nationals last year! With season openers like these, NIRCA once again better look out for this dangerous duo come November.
Senior Vicky Dent crossed the line next for the club in 21st with a time of 24:23. She, probably like the rest of us, is curious what she could’ve run if it had not been for the mud. Not far behind Vicky was junior Amelia “Mia” Bertaud in 24:33 who somehow made it through the muddy course without spikes. Veteran Noel Brindise and newcomer Grace Gudwien came in almost side by side, finishing in 24:37 and 24:39 respectively. Noel decided to be aggressive early in the race and try to maintain, which paid off. Her time was well under what she expected from herself at this race and she now has her eyes set on a goal of breaking 24. This was a marvelous debut 6k by Gudwien and it is definitely safe to assume that she is going to keep doing damage throughout her time with us.
Tiffany Yathaputanon, a senior only in her second season of cross country, came in at 24:58, finishing off the top 7 for our women. Not far behind was sophomore Grace McDonough who was super excited for this race, after putting in a hard summer of training. Her time of 25:18 is almost a full minute faster than her time from nationals last year, which had also been a minute PR from her previous best. This means we can expect a 24:18 out of her next race, right?
Clare Oehler crossed the line next at 25:26. Clare is one of our new freshman and it can be assumed that she’s eager to make her mark early. Emily Condic, another seasoned veteran, finished next for the club in 25:38. After studying abroad for part of last year, she is back and ready to compete. Maia Haworth, who finished in 26:12, bested her nationals time from last year by minutes and was happy with the race, but knows she still has more left in her. Mahum Chaudhary is another freshman who came in at 27:28. Mahum enjoys long walks in downtown Naperville and running in the rain. Let’s just assume she loves running in the mud, too. Rounding out the women was Natalie Maguire who is another freshman (we’re glad we have so many of those) who finished in 29:20.
As the start of the men’s race was nearing, the men from the car that had broken down had arrived with a solid 10 or 15 minutes to spare before the gun. After Coach Skogsberg collected every watch in the greater Western Chicago area, it was race time.
Our men got out aggressively and packed up to work together throughout the race. Sophomore Josh Mollway was able to kick past former club coach Ryan Somerfield down the stretch to finish first for the club in 25:49, securing 5th place. Somerfield was just behind in 25:50 and 6th place, even though the polls say otherwise. Freshman Justin Ostrem showed up big in his 8k debut, running 26:05. No doubt he’ll become a vital component of this team as time progresses. Former ye ol’ Mahomet runner Brian “Butch” Butcher ran a consistent race after a consistent summer of training and finished with a time of 26:07. With Ostrem and Butch finishing 9th and 10th, the men’s top 4 finishers were among the top 10 overall finishers. Pack running pays off, people.
William Wolf, another Mahomet alum and our only All-American last season, finished off our scoring five coming in at 26:26. After a very busy academic year last year, this senior appears ready to finish off his time with the club strong. Josh Feldman and Leonel Rodriguez were the club’s 6th and 7th finishers, running 26:32 and 26:39. With Leonel feeling bronchitis-free and running with newfound confidence, it’ll be exciting to see what he can accomplish by this season’s end.
Rattling in next for the Illini were John Kellum in 26:53, Eli Walker in 26:58, and Connor Farrell in 27:07. All of these men improved from their nationals’ performances in Michigan last year. Secretary Cody Lund finished in 27:20, a solid PR, and enjoyed the true cross country experience of racing in the mud. You can thank Cody for getting us the stellar new uniforms.
Alex Hanskat didn’t exactly have the race he wanted with 27:54, but every race is a learning experience and his goals for this year are beyond times and places. No doubt he’ll accomplish what he wants to accomplish.
Next in was Blake Duncan who finished at 28:00. He’s a freshman with a lot of talent and we’re excited to see what he’s got. Brothers Jarod and Jordan Meyer finished just about side by side, with Jarod going 28:08 and Jordan going 28:09. Freshmen Evan Eckels and Alex Kogen were 10 seconds apart, finishing in 28:29 and 28:39. High school superstar Andrew Walmer, who was set back with a back injury last year, had a time of 28:47 which is a fantastic starting spot in coming back and building up to full strength.
Daniel Engel came into Aurora just hoping to break 30, and he came away with a time of 28:53, a 50 second personal best. (Have you been paying attention to how many PRs there has been?) Nathan Ehrenhofer and Bryan Himmel ran 29:08 and 29:19, with Timothy Green and Lucas Carillo not far behind in 29:46 and 29:49. All 4 of these freshman ran impressive opening 8ks.
Coming in next was hard working home meet coordinator, Sean Frintner, and dear president Muneeb Ansari. Frintner finished in 30:49 and Ansari came in at 30:50. With all of that mud, these are solid performances by our board members.
Finishing in 31:08 was Matt Dickinson. He is looking really solid aerobically and is looking to show what he can do on a course without swamps of mud. Zach Scheffel came in at 31:57 and Nick Schuster rounded out the men with a time of 32:28.
On a course where times were not the main concern, our runners ran pretty darn fast. The women claimed second place overall while the men grabbed first.
We hope to see more people come out to compete at our next meet hosted by Olivet Nazarene University at the Aspen Ridge Golf Course in Bourbonnais on Friday, September 28th.
Until next time.