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This past weekend was the first meet for the Illinois Track Club, and kicked off the season on a very high note going into winter break. With just the ­­18 sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, and Mid D runners who competed, the team came through with 12 top five finishes in meet events; not a bad way to start at all. That being said, lets get into some of the spectacular individual performances.

From the women’s side, it was senior Lauren Jonen, junior Selena Wallace, and Freshmen Becky Haight and Ali Djokic who led the charge. Jonen had very good races in the 200 and 300 placing second and third respectively in each event, while also adding her name to the top ten club leaderboard in both events (which can be found under performance lists). Her times were 26.85 for the 200, and 42.11 in the 300. Becky and Ali, in their first ever club track meet, showed great promise with their fast times. Becky had an impressive day in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.64, as well as a 300 with time of 45.52. Ali Djokic had herself a day in the 60m hurdles with a new club record time of 10.86! Selena Wallace from the Mid D squad had quite the 600 meter race, placing 4^th overall and setting a new PR with a time of 1:46.36.

The men’s squad also had a lot of notable performances that look extremely good going into winter break training. The Mid D guys had a very promising 4×400 race of freshman Keith Lee and sophomores Mario Barenas, Tyler Splitt, and George Gunter, winning their heat, and placing 4^th overall with a time of 3:36.27. Mario and Keith also ran good open 600s with Mario running a new PR of 4 seconds (1:32.94) and Keith having a great start to the season with a time of 1:27.47. The highlight of the day for the men’s team came from freshman Joe Haight and sophomore Mateusz Lopez. Joe Haight’s day was highlighted with a first overall finish in the 200, and a second overall finish in the 300 with times of 22.90 and 36.42 respectively. Mateusz Lopez also had a very good day in many different events, but especially the 300 meter dash. Mateusz won the race with a new elusive club record time of 36.09! With this great performance, Mateusz earned the first ever ITC Official Interview:

Me: So Saturday you made it onto three leaderboards including a club record, can you describe how that feels?

Mateusz: It feels great. I have been very consistant with my workouts lately, I was given a challenge, and I did what I needed to do.

Me: What do you do before a race to get yourself prepared?

Mateusz: I try to chill out, stay relaxed, and listen to music. I have worked hard enough at this point so that I don’t have to be nervous

Me: What is your favorite pump up song before a race?

Mateusz: Victory by Puff Daddy

Me: Is there anything you could recommend to those who struggle to stay focused over winter break?

Mateusz: Make sure to organize your schedule well, and if you do that, you will be able to find time to get your training in.

Me: Well thank you so much for doing this. Is there anything else you would like to tell the fans out there who have believed in you since day one?

Mateusz: Make sure you don’t quit even when you are feeling down, and make sure to stay focused every day!

With that, Illinois track will be back after a long winter break of training on January 23^rd for EIU John Craft Invitational, so stay tuned!

Even though winter is approaching the ITC season is heating up, and I would like to kick it off with a recent conversation I had with grad student Brad Coyle after his slightly disappointing end to his cross-country season. He explained “Nats [NIRCA cross country nationals] left me with a pretty bitter taste in my mouth, but hey it’s a new season, and all I want to do now is smash it out on that Indiana track in a few months!”

With that, get pumped for a wild track season filled with many competitive meets each equipped with fire extinguishers in preparation for the scorching events each member of the team has in store.

The kindling for the flame each athlete will bring to the field began in the fall. For the distance and some of middle distance, the promising cross-country season provided them with a torch that will not be put out anytime soon. With coach Steve Krauklis’s training plan these runners are fully prepared to set fire to the track this season. The rest of Mid D, sprinters, throwers, and jumpers have also been training hard throughout the fall, and are fully prepared to light their own conflagration and leave the spectators in awe.

Grad students Megan Mccogni and Beth McGreal as well as seniors Jess Ayers and Lauren Jonen will lead the women’s team, and look to rewrite some of the record books. Megan and Beth are long standing members of the club, and have already proven their potential when they each finished in the top ten at NIRCA cross country nationals. Lauren Jonen and Jess Ayers are not ones to mess with either. After demolishing many of the club sprinting records in previous years, they will look to continue their success with their final seasons. Along with the leaders, junior Mid D runner Hannah Belhe and junior hurdlers Abby Ralph and Jenny Na will all look to pick up where they left off as NIRCA All Americans.

The men’s side will also see a group of key returners lead the charge toward the season. Junior distance runner Jared Ripoli, the afore mentioned Brad Coyle, senior sprinter/jumper Sebastien Alvis, and sprinter Beau Barber will all look to help the team rise to the lofty expectations. Jared Ripoli has proven many times during cross country and indoor track his worth, and will look to have a healthy and promising season. Brad Coyle and Sebastien Alvis were both new members on the club last year, but have since proven their talent and work ethic through their all American results from last year. Beau Barber, through his tireless dedication and commitment to the team will also help lead the charge. The men’s squad, just like the womens’, shows a lot of depth as well, including recent cross country All American sophomore Michael Frintner, sophomore jumper Mateusz Lopez, sophomore thrower Geoff Segal, as well as sophomore Mid D runners Tyler Splitt and George Gunter. They all have the potential to place highly in their respective heats and post some sweet records to the books.

Overall the team is looking really hot, and not even the impending Illinois winter will be able to cool us down!”,2015-12-04 15:36:21+00,XC

It’s the final race of the season for the Illinois Cross Country Club as the team heads to Lexington, Kentucky this weekend for the 2015 NIRCA National Championships. Saturday marks the last time IXC will toe the line this year in four championship races against the rest of the nation’s NIRCA clubs. Illinois is poised for success in Kentucky after a great regular season.

Last weekend, the women’s team claimed the Great Plains Regional Championship in dominating fashion, with five runners claiming top-10 all-Regional medals. The women have had a strong front pack all season. They’re led by women’s captain Megan Mocogni who has had a historic season for the club. She set a new record in the women’s 5K twice and has finished in the top-3 of her last 3 races, including an individual Regional championship. It’s been a one-two punch at the top of the results with Mocogni and grad student Beth McGreal. Beth finished second at Regionals two weeks ago, and she was an All-American 15^th place at Nationals in 2013. Lauren Choi has had a phenomenal senior season and junior Emma Burkhardt is back in her second race coming off of injury after an all-Regional finish two weeks ago.

The men took third at the Great Plains Regional and they”ll take on regional rivals Wisconsin and Iowa State as well as strong competition from across the country. The men should have a strong pack led by junior Jared Ripoli. Brad Coyle returns to NIRCA Nationals for the first time since 2008. Freshmen Josh Feldman and Willy Wolf will make their Nationals debuts and Michael Frintner, David Choi and Ryan Somerfield will make their A-race debuts after strong fall seasons.

IXC shines with its depth and it will be in full display in the B-races. Last year, the men won handily and placed seven in the top 15. The women recorded their highest ever finish in second place. It”s the final culminating race of the season and IXC Is poised for success.  The women”s B-race goes off at 10:30 with the men at 11:30. The women’s A-race starts at 12:40 and the men run at 1:40. We”ll keep you posted from Lexington on IXC”s season finale.

Saturday’s NIRCA Great Plains Regional brought more club competitors than ever before. The first meet of the postseason also brought strong performances from a lot of different places for IXC. The women’s team claimed its fifth consecutive Great Plains Regional championship while the men placed third. The women’s top 5 put on a dominant showing, claiming five of the top-10 all-Regional medals while promising performances came from across the men’s squad.

“The goal for Regionals is not how Regionals goes, it’s how we move forward,” head coach Steve Krauklis said. “We’ve been building our team for Nationals, not for Regionals.”

The women’s team has been dominant in Regional competition, and that trend continued on Saturday. The Great Plains Regional Championship began in 2011 and the women have won the meet every single year. They also won the previous year when the meet was still the Midwest Regional. And the victories have been dominating. In the each of the five years of the Great Plain Regional, the women have scored 35 points or fewer. This year’s squad defeated Wisconsin 27-54.

Women’s captain Megan Mocogni claimed the individual Regional title with a time of 23:01. Grad student Beth McGreal was the next to cross the line at 23:11. Both moved up one spot from their last time at Regionals. Mocogni finished second last year and Beth moved up from a third place finish during her senior year in 2013. It was the second time racing at the Arboretum in as many weeks for the women’s two headliners. On October 23 at the Illini Open, Mocogni smashed her own club record in the 5K, running 18:06 while Beth took 10^th place.

It was also a strong performance from the rest of the women’s scoring pack. Lauren “LoCho Cinco” Choi continued an extremely impressive senior campaign with a sixth place finish. Lauren ran nearly a full minute faster than last year’s Regional meet and moved up 10 places. The always dependable Heather Guetterman came through in eighth place and Emma Burkhardt, in her first race coming back from injury moved right back where she was needed as the team’s fifth runner. Emma also took home the tenth and final all-Regional medal. Freshman Anneliese Schulz put in another strong performance and junior Allison Gibson continued the best cross country season of her collegiate career with a 16^th place finish. She improved 30 places from last year and shaved nearly two whole minutes off of her time.

Allison’s roommate Hannah Behle had her best race of the season at Regionals and a strong finishing kick. Her parents also provided some delicious warm beverages and snacks after the meet. (Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Behle!) Anna Piazza also had a strong race. Adriana Miltko had a solid showing in her first collegiate race and Nataly Medina had a strong season debut, running 50 seconds faster than at last year’s Regionals. Training partners Noel Brindise and Megan Frintner both set PR’s, by 40 and 15 seconds respectively. In her second race with the club, Morgan Crivlare showed marked improvement, running nearly 3 minutes and 15 seconds faster than she did at Augustana on September 25.

The men’s team took third place behind Wisconsin and Iowa State. The men’s team has also done well historically at Regionals, placing in every year of the Great Plains and Midwest and even back to when Ball State’s MC5 was the Regional Championship in 2007 and 2008. In his second race with the club, Auburn Jimenez once again finished as the men’s top runner in sixth place. Brad “The Professor ” Coyle and Michael “One-Speed'” Frintner were the men’s next two finishers. Freshman Willy Wolf and assistant coach Ryan Somerfield contributed to the team’s scoring five for the first time this season in 15^th and 18^th place respectively. Ryan ran 25 seconds faster than at last year’s Regional and over two minutes faster than he did his freshman year. Freshman Josh Feldman and junior David “Cliff” Choi completed the men’s top seven. Racing wasn’t Choi’s only contribution to the meet; he also carved an intricate NIRCA pumpkin that was a centerpiece of the post-race awards ceremony and delighted club running fans of all ages. (Alumni Jonny Hoots also was a carving contributor.)

After a stellar summer of training and a season of races where he just keeps improving, Quinn “The Dancellor” Todzo ran one of his strongest races of the season in front of his parents, visiting all the way from the San Francisco. QT was just six seconds off his PR in poor conditions. Freshman Arturo Woodward-Montes wasn’t far behind and has also been improving all season. Sophomores Matt “Swagmaster” Dini and Dan “DJ” Johnson had strong races. Brett Barsanti ran nearly two minutes faster than he did at Regionals last year, setting a huge new PR. Freshmen Andrew Gensburg and Muneeb Ansari had nice collegiate debuts, with Andrew breaking 30 minutes and Muneeb meeting his pre-race goal by dipping under 32.

Saturday also marked the IXC debuts of Michael Gleason, Adam “Kid Adam” Bruyere, Anders Dinterman, Mike “Fear the Beard” Perez, and Scott Sompel in the men’s race. For the women, Mimi “Lil’ B” Rodriguez and Michelle Delana made their collegiate debuts.

The Regional meet was bigger than ever this year and everything ran extremely smoothly thanks to the efforts of home meet coordinator Big Sean “The Real SMB” Bruyere. (Sean also made his season debut after battling injury and has his target set on Kid Adam at Nationals.) It’s the third straight year IXC has gotten to host the Great Plains Regional and the meet has added more than 100 runners since 2013. This year featured 14 teams, including Kansas and Nebraska from the Heartland Region.  Thank you to Sean for working all season to ensure a successful meet and a great start to the postseason.

Thank you also to all of the friends and family who came out to watch IXC compete. It’s a great advantage to race at home and it’s even greater when we have people out there to support us. Thanks for braving the cold and wetness to cheer on the team, we truly appreciate the support.

IXC’s will next toe the line in Lexington, Kentucky for the NIRCA National Championships on November 14. It’s the final race of the season and we’ll keep you posted with updates on the most important race of the season.

The Illinois Cross Country Club kicks off the postseason today at home with the NIRCA Great Plains Regional. After facing competition from across the collegiate ranks, IXC will now face club teams from around the Midwest this weekend on its home course at the University of Illinois Arboretum. Bradley,  Illinois State, Iowa State, Loyola, Marquette, Northwestern, St. Louis, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Wash U will descend upon Champaign for NIRCA Regional action. This year, Kansas and Nebraska will also compete in the Great Plains Region instead of their home Heartland Region.

The men race first on Saturday at 9:00 am. It’s the second time this season that the men’s pack will be led by both grad student Auburn Jimenez and junior Jared Ripoli. The duo will look to lead IXC to back-to-back regional championships after defeating Minnesota 36-50. It should be a competitive race across the board featuring a match-up between IXC, third at Nationals last year, and Northwestern, a surprise narrow fourth place finisher at Nationals. Wisconsin also brings almost as many runners as IXC and will try to compete with Illinois’ depth.

The women’s race kicks off at 10:00 am. They are headlined by women’s captain Megan Mocogni and grad student Beth McGreal. Both dominated on this course a week ago at the Illini Open. Mocogni smashed her own club record in the 5K with an 18:06, good for a second place finish at the meet while Beth ran 18:54 to finish in 10^th. These two will be the ones to watch on Saturday as the women look to continue a string of Regional championships. There will also be intrigue at the fifth spot for the women’s team. Behind a strong top two and Lauren Choi and Heather Guetterman, the women have had a rock-solid top four, but it remains to be seen who can be a steady fifth runner. Emma Burkhardt will look to fill that hole, as well as freshman upstart Anneliese Schulz among others.

It’s IXC’s third consecutive year hosting the regional meet, and they’ll look to take advantage of running on their home course. The Arb course is nearly all flat except for one big hill at the end of the main loop that the Illini have trained on all season. We hope to see a lot of support for IXC on our home course as IXC looks to take home another regional championship in both divisions.

The Illinois Cross Country had a successful trip north this weekend to the UW-Parkside Lucian Rosa Invite. The women finished fifth out of 16 teams and the men finished third of 16 teams. IXC took on a very challenging course in the Wayne E. Dannehal National Cross Country Course and came away from the enormous hills with lots of promising results.

The women’s team impressed right off the bat as women’s captain Megan Mocogni had an awesome performance to take third place overall. Mocogni smashed the women’s 5K record by 15 seconds. Last season, Mocogni finished 52nd. After a seventh place finish at Augustana a few weeks ago, Mocogni earned her second consecutive top finisher t-shirt at Parkside. Once again, Beth “Betty” McGreal was close behind Mocogni. Beth took sixth overall. When she ran at Parkside her senior year in 2013, Beth finished in 100^th place and ran 19:37, this year she was 94 places higher and 47 seconds faster. It’s uncertain how much of Beth’s success can be attributed to riding in an all-star car to Kenosha.

Behind the women’s top two stellar stalwarts was another athlete who has put together a fantastic fall season. Lauren “Loco LoCho” Choi took 29^th in her first time on Parkside’s brutal course, running the same time Beth did two years ago en route to a NIRCA All-American finish at Nationals. In her second race of the season, Heather Guetterman handled the hills well to be the women’s fourth finisher. Before the meet, head coach Steve Krauklis said that freshman Anneliese Schulz has looked better and better every workout. Anneliese delivered and ran a stellar race to finish out the women’s scoring five, finishing 53^rd with a 20:22. The women’s sixth and seventh runners were within one second of each other- Abby Madden ran a strong season debut in 20:35 (she also benefited from an all-star car) and freshman Jill Monier continued a solid freshman campaign with a 20:36.

Hannah Behle ran her strongest race of the season right behind Jill and five seconds faster than last season. Coach Krauk said freshman Becky Haight put on “quite the show,” with a very impressive finishing kick. Anastasia Rodriguez ran her first meet with the team and put together a good debut after a string of consistent workouts while sophomore Audrey Vandercar put in another solid race.

The men’s team had a strong showing, also led by two top performers. Auburn “The King of Campus” Jiminez and Jared Ripoli finished in ninth and 12^th place to pace the men’s team. Auburn’s first race with the club team was one to remember, and it’s in his first cross country season only playing one sport. Brad “The Teacher”Coyle put in another good finish in a consistent string of races this fall. He’s been able to remember some of his old cross country tricks after several years away from the sport. David Choi wasn’t far behind as the team’s fourth finisher and Michael “One-Speed” Frintner was the men’s final scorer. Willy “The Pup” Wolf was sixth for the team followed by fellow freshman Josh Feldman in their first races at Parkside.

Co-workers Henry “The Boss” Wolf and Quinn “The Boss’s Personal Assistant” Todzo both ran stellar races, with Henry at 27:44 and the Dancellor at 27:47. Sean McCarty has been improving every race this season, and continued that with another solid showing at Parkside. Cody Hansen blew his time at Parkside last year out of the water, running a full minute and 12 seconds faster this year. Parkside was also a special occasion as the first cross country race with the team for Coach Krauk since Nationals his sophomore year in 2013. Krauk accomplished his pre-race goal, in what may be his final cross country race competing with the team.

Several athletes ran their first ever race with IXC at Parkside and they deserve a shout-out for toughing it out on the Dannehal course. Anastasia and Amanda Lesak made collegiate debuts with the women, while Auburn and Alex Notton also ran their first-ever races with the club.

Parkside also provided an opportunity for several IXC parents to come out and cheer on the team, and their support was greatly appreciated. Thank you to the Dinis, Mrs. Rodriguez, the Krauklises, the Dixons ft. Grandma Dixon, the Manariks, the Moniers, the Feldmans, the Schulzes and any other parents I might not have seen for coming out to root on IXC.

We also had a strong showing from IXC alumni at Parkside. Brendan McDonnell, Evan White, Greg Netols, Zach Boehmke and Emma Grimes all donned Illinois singlets to race alongside the current team. Monica O”Connor, Megan McGreal, Kevin Kibler and Max Silva also showed up to cheer on the team.

After Parkside, a group of alumni and current athletes headed to Chicago to volunteer at the finish line of Sunday’s Chicago Marathon. Thanks to everyone who turned out to volunteer, it was a great experience to hang out with current and former teammates (plus it included a slick free jacket).

IXC next toes the line at the NIRCA Great Plains Regional right here in Champaign on Halloween. It’s the start of the post-season for the club and the team’s only home meet as NIRCA teams from around the Midwest will descend upon the Arboretum in the penultimate meet of the season. We had a great showing of support at Parkside, and we hope to see even more of you on our home turf in a few weeks!

The Illinois Cross Country Club had a successful morning at the UW-Parkside Lucian Rosa Invitational. Once again, the women looked dominant. Women”s captain Megan Mocogni led the charge with an impressive third-place finish, looking strong down the final straightaway and all by herself in third. Not far behind was Beth McGreal with another good showing. The women”s third finisher was Lauren Choi. Her sub-20 finish was the latest in a fantastic fall campaign for the senior, who has been a top-7 mainstay. Heather Guetterman was fourth for the women, followed by freshman Anneliese Schulz to round out the scoring five. Schulz has been steadily improving all season.

Auburn Jiminez, in his first race with the team was the top finisher in 26:12, good for ninth place. Jared Ripoli was close behind in 12th. Brad Coyle had another steady veteran race to be the team”s third man. David Choi had a strong race on Parkside”s hills, and kept his chip on the whole race to be counted in the final results. Sophomore Michael Frintner was the men”s final scorer in 38th.

‘”We should be thrilled with where we”re at and thrilled with where we”re going,'” said head coach Steve Krauklis. ‘”We are running well right now. Staying focused and staying healthy are the two keys to our success moving forward.'”

Note: IXC Now is a quick post-race recap of the team’s top finishes. A full recap highlighting all of the team’s great performances in-depth is still to come. 

The Illinois Cross Country Club heads north to Kenosha, Wisconsin for UW-Parkside’s Lucian Rosa Invitational. Last year, the men took ninth and the women took tenth by unofficial count. It”s the team”s first action since a stellar performance at Augustana on September 25.

One of the highlights of Augustana was women”s captain Megan Mocogni”s seventh place finish, good for the second fastest 6K in club history. She”s been leading the women on a tear this fall and they return four of their scoring five from Parkside last year. Mocogni”s roommate Abby Madden will make her season debut after a strong track season. Freshman Anneliese Schulz will look to build on a strong debut at Augustana and Coach Krauklis said she”s looked better and better in every workout. Freshmen Kaitlin Sumler and Becky Haight also return to action after debuting at EIU.

The biggest breakthrough at Parkside last year came from Ryan Somerfield. Somerfield ran a huge 67 second PR on Parkside”s course. Coach Krauk expects to see the ‘”real'” Ryan Somerfield after a big summer of training. David Choi also showed his top seven staying power last year after his breakout race at Augustana. Choi”s roommate Tyler Dixon loves Parkside”s hills and ran a strong race last year. Saturday will also mark Alex ‘”Ohio'” Notton”s debut with the team.

The Parkside field features a strong field of competition from Division I to III as well as the men”s team first club team competition in Wisconsin. But the team”s biggest challenge at Parkside might be the course. The Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course is a true cross country course through woods and prarie. It”s also very hilly, including an enormous uphill start for the first 800 meters.

The women race at 10 and the men go off at 11. The team will be staying in the north suburbs on Friday night. It”s a short drive from Chicago, so we hope to see some IXC supporters in Kenosha!

IXC head coach Steve Krauklis can be hard to please, but even he was impressed with the Illinois Cross Country Club’s performance on Friday night at Augustana’s Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. The women had a dominant showing and the men’s team ran a savvy race. Veterans put up big PR’s, while several newcomers put on strong debuts.

“Both men and women exceeded expectations, top to bottom,” Krauk said. “I am extremely pleased and excited moving forward.”

Augustana is a meet full of strong competition, and the field ballooned this year as more teams got in on the action. Last year’s meet featured 39 teams in the men’s race and 35 in the women’s. This year, 50 teams competed in both races. The women of IXC took home sixth place, while the men took eleventh.

Women’s captain Megan Mocogni had an outstanding race to take seventh place in 22:19. She led the charge in a fantastic showing for the women with a time that ranks as the second-fastest 6K in club history. Beth McGreal also earned a top-15 finish in her first 6K of the season, taking 14^th place in 22:50- good for the fifth-fastest 6K in club history. Augustana’s Saukie Golf Course is conducive to fast times, with flat terrain and great competition and the women certainly took advantage. Behind Mocogni and Beth was Heather Guetterman in her season debut. After a jaunt around Africa in the spring, this was Heather’s first race with the team since NIRCA Nationals last November. It looks like she picked up right where she left off, moving up the whole race for a great season debut.

After breaking her 5K PR by 33 seconds at EIU, Lauren “Loco LoCho” Choi had another strong race, breaking her 6K PR by 40 seconds and finishing as the team’s fourth runner. Emma Burkhardt rounded out the scoring five with a promising performance after dealing with an injury. Freshman Jill Monier had another solid showing, especially considering the circumstances. The women’s race was unexpectedly moved up 10 minutes and everyone did a great job handling the change. With a curtailed warm-up, Jill still ran 24:22 and was the team’s sixth finisher. Allison Gibson was seventh for the team.

In their second races of the season, Noel Brindise and Megan Frintner both dropped nearly 30 seconds off of their pace per mile. Some women also ran their first race ever with the team: freshman Sara Folliard ran 26:01 in her first collegiate competition and sophomore Audrey Vandercar ran 26:27 in her first race with the team. It was a strong showing top-to-bottom for the ladies as nearly double the number of women raced at Augustana, compared to EIU.

Jared Ripoli led the men’s team in Rock Island, taking 30^th place and earning a coveted Brissman-Lundeen top-40 t-shirt. Jared ran 25:32, smashing his PR by 37 seconds. Early in the race, Jared had an unexpected companion in Michael Frintner. Frintner went out hard and when he started to settle down, Jared called him right back up. The result- a huge 55 second PR for Frintner, all while wearing middle school spikes digging into his heels.

The duo of Bradford “The Teacher” Coyle and David Choi ran savvy races as the team’s third and fourth finishers. The pair worked their way up nicely throughout the whole race. Brad, the elder statesman, finished in 26:09 and David’s finish is unknown, as his timing chip fell off during the race, as if he never even competed. Freshman Josh Feldman once again finished as the team’s fifth man, building on a strong performance at EIU. Willy “WEEM” Wolf and assistant coach Ryan Somerfield finished sixth and seventh for the team. Krauk was impressed with Weem’s intuition in his very first 8K.

Arturo Woodward-Montes ran a strong race in his IXC debut and Leonel “El León” Rodreguez had a solid first 8K with the team. Krauk said expect the pair to improve further as they gain confidence throughout the season. Justin “Shimeister” Shim made his collegiate racing premiere and finished like an “800 meter stud” according to Krauk. Tyler “T-Dix” Dixon had a strong and steady race. Arun Madhavan and Will Reyes also made their IXC debuts after a few weeks of grinding it out at practice.

Brissman-Lundeen marked the debut for many new members of IXC. Shout-out to Annaliese Schulz, Sara, Audrey, Anastasia Rodriguez, Sarah Garrow, Kendra Zwonitzer, and Morgan Cirvale. For the men, Arturo, Justin, John “is a Lyon” Lyons, Ciaran Lynch, Arun, and Will all raced for the first time with IXC.

It was a great day for the club in Rock Island, and special thanks to the friends and family who came out to cheer on the team at the meet. The club will toe the line again on October 10 in Kenosha, Wisconsin for UW-Parkside’s Lucian Rosa Invitational. It’s a short drive from Chicago, so we hope to see you there supporting IXC!

It was a strong showing for IXC at the Brissman-Lundeen tonight. The women were impressive, taking sixth place behind a blazing seventh place finish by women”s captain Megan Mocogni. Beth McGreal also earned a top-40 t-shirt with a 16th place. Heather Guetterman looked strong behind those two in her season debut, charging up throughout the race. Lauren Choi had another great race as the team”s fourth finisher, followed by  Emma Burkhardt.

The men also ran well, led by a 30th place finish by Jared Ripoli. Michael Frintner ran a tough race, starting off quick near Ripoli and crossing the line  as the team”s second runner. Brad Coyle and David Choi ran together as No. 3 and No. 4, strategically moving up throughout the race. Choi lost his chip during the race, so the team finish is still TBD. Freshman Josh Feldman once again rounded out the scoring five for the men in his first collegiate 8K.

‘”Both men and women exceeded expectations, top to bottom,'” head coach Steve Krauklis said. ‘”Some of the older team members showed a lot of maturity and handled all the changes and the race in general very very well. I am extremely pleased and excited moving forward.'”

Note: IXC Now is a quick post-race recap of the team”s top finishes. A full recap highlighting all of the team”s great performances in-depth is still to come.