Several first’s for IXC at SIU-E’s John Flamer Invite

This weekend, the Illinois Cross Country Club split squad and headed downstate to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville’s John Flamer Invite for the first time ever. There were a few of significant firsts on the hilly terrain of the SIU-E Cross Country Course   against strong Division I and II competition.

This weekend marked the first meet in club history that more women competed than men. It’s an important historical note for the team. When things got started, the club was heavily male-dominated, but the female membership has been steadily on the rise and this weekend, the women’s team fielded more racers than the men. Nice job ladies.

A big first came for Evan White on Saturday. Running all by himself on a very difficult, hilly course, Evan broke 26 minutes for the first time, clocking 25 minutes and 59 seconds to garner a 13th place finish for the team. He held his own and the back of his jersey was a familiar sight for several competitors that we had previously seen from Mizzou and SIU-E. It’s another strong performance for Evan after just missing out on a top 35 t-shirt at Augustana (that’s probably what drove him on Saturday.) In all seriousness though, Evan’s been putting in the time (#PITT) and has been on a tear through the first half of the season.

Alex Erwin has been dropping time like it’s his job. After improving by 5 minutes and 25 seconds from EIU to Augustana, Erwin dropped another 90 seconds this weekend. Ilyas Taraki also had a nice race, improving by more than a minute from his club debut at Augustana, this time on a much harder course. It was also the club debut for several members of the men’s team. Brett Barsanti, Tony Gao, Sean McCarty and Alex Shirley all raced with “ILLINOIS” across their chest for the first time. Nice job guys.

For the women, Hannah Smith stepped up and led the way with a good race on the tough course in 25:37.  Shortly behind her, former Nittany Lion Gwenn Porter made her debut for the Illini. She’s a grad student to keep an eye on as we move towards the post-season. She will hopefully be helping us take down her alma mater’s running club about a month from now in East Lansing.

Track Club President Paige Oboikovitz took the third spot for the women, continuing her steady improvement this season. Steve said she’s the kind of runner who gets better and better as the season goes on, so look for big things as we head into the NIRCA competition season. Next up was esteemed travel coordinator Monica O’Connor, making her season debut under a false identity. Monica organized everyone’s departure from campus at 6:15, and even though that’s brutally early for a Saturday morning, she said it was a fun trip and a great bonding experience for the women’s team.

Anna Piazza completed the scoring five, shaving 15 seconds off of her Augustana time on a much more difficult course. Rounding out the top seven was Selena Wallace and Corina Jurczyk, making her collegiate debut with the club. This weekend also marked the collegiate debuts of Megan Frintner and Robin Manarik, as well as the season debut for Nicole Cinquino.

Now, the other half of the team heads to Kenosha, Wis., this weekend for UW-Parkside’s Lucian Rosa Invite. It’s a big meet, with more strong competition and another challenging course. For any club supporters near Chicago, it’s only a little more than an hour drive, so consider heading North and supporting the team!