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The Illinois Cross Country Club opened up its 2016 campaign on Friday with a successful showing at Eastern Illinois’ Walt Crawford Open. The men finished third and the women finished fifth overall. IXC’s performances were marked by two words: young talent. Eight of the fourteen top-seven finishers were freshmen or sophomores, including three of the men’s scoring five.

Freshman Emily Condic was the first finisher for the women, running in her first-ever 5K. It’s only her second cross country season and she made the most of her debut. Perhaps most promising for the team is that the three women in the front pack all finished within one second of each other. Sophomore Anneliese Schulz, coming off a strong track season, finished just 0.08 seconds behind Emily. Senior women’s captain Emma Burkhardt was just behind as the team’s third finisher.

The top five was rounded out by some savvy veterans. Senior Allison Gibson was the fourth for the team in her first cross country action since a strong performance at NIRCA Nationals last fall. Junior Erin McKee was the final scorer, back on the course after a semester overseas en España. Erin was the team’s fourth runner at Nationals her freshman year, and now back on US soil, she’ll look to contribute once again for the women’s side.

Two more newcomers completed the women’s top-seven. Senior Ellie Palacios was sixth for the team in her IXC debut and freshman Callie Rukavina was seventh in her first collegiate race.
The men’s third place effort was spearheaded by underclassmen. Leading the charge for IXC were sophomores Willy Wolf and Josh Feldman. Last time out on the XC course, they were the two freshmen to run in the top-seven for the club at Nationals, both finishing in the top-five. Willy set a new PR with his finish as the first finisher and Feldman followed up on a stellar race at Nationals last year. After a strong track season, it looks like they’re ready to make a strong impact in cross country.

Senior David Choi came in shortly after Josh to finish third. Behind him came a fellow civil engineer with one of the day’s highlights. Young Arturo Woodward-Montes looked great as the team’s fourth runner. The DC product set a big PR (shaving off a few seconds after shaving a gross-looking mustache) and after a disappointing race at last year’s Nationals, he looks ready to take 2016 by storm.

Senior Jared Ripoli rounded out the scoring five for the men. Another pair of sophomores finished out the top-seven. Jared’s high school teammate Justin Shim followed as the sixth finisher in one of his strongest races for the club and Leonel “El Léon Loco” Rodreguez was seventh.

Freshman Zach Mesplay made a strong debut for the team, running 27:44 for his first collegiate 8K in his return to EIU after last spring’s State Track Meet. Freshman Cody Lund broke his season goal by running 28:43. Last season marked the first time in the last four years that two brothers raced together for IXC in Willy and graduated Henry Wolf. This year featured three siblings racing together. It was a family affair for the Frintners as Sean “Crunchy” Frintner made his collegiate debut alongside brother Michael and sister Megan.

Several newly-minted IXC athletes kicked off their career at EIU. Leah Ziolkowski, Vicky Dent and Veronica Deane all toed the line for the club for the first time on Friday. For the men, Eli Walker, Alex “Balloon Man” Hanskat, Evan Patel, Brendan Stonequist, Jeff Abbott, Jacob Anderson and Ryan Fitzgerald all raced for the first time as members of IXC. Congratulations to all the newcomers on their inaugural race with the club.

The team returns to action on September 23 at Augustana’s Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. The large field always promises strong competition at every level and the team will spend the next few weeks preparing for the gun to go off in Rock Island, Ill.

The Illinois Cross Country Club started the season at Eastern Illinois on Friday night with a successful showing at the Walt Crawford Open. Conditions were much more favorable than years past and athletes took advantage with several strong performances.

The women”s race was highlighted by a tight front pack. Newcomer Emily Condic shone in her first collegiate race as the team”s No. 1 runner. She ran 19:30 in her second-ever 5K. Senior Emma Burkhardt, the team”s top returner, came in as the second runner and sophomore Anneliese Schulz was just behind as the third finisher. Two veterans rounded out the scoring five in senior Allison Gibson and junior Erin McKee.

The men were led by their young talent. Three of the top five finishers were sophomores. Sophomore Willy Wolf led the charge in 26:35 on a course he”s become very familiar with. He was followed by fellow sophomore Josh Feldman. The two were the only freshmen in the men”s A-race for the team at Nationals, and they look poised to make another jump this year. They were followed by senior David Choi, who cemented himself as a top seven stalwart last year. Sophomore Arturo Woodward-Montes had a breakout race to finish as the team”s fourth man with a huge PR. Senior Jared Ripoli, a NIRCA All-American in 2014, completed the scoring five.

The club returns to action in three weeks at the Augustana Brissman-Lundeen Invite on Sept. 23.

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. 

A new season has arrived for the Illinois Cross Country Club. After a great fall campaign last year, the season didn’t end the way the team wanted. Both the men’s and women’s teams have been working hard through track season and the summer to prepare for a fall full of promise.

The men’s team is loaded with experience and young talent, bringing back six of the seven athletes from last season’s top seven. Junior Michael Frintner is the top returner, coming off a second-team All-American performance at NIRCA Nationals. Other returners include sophomore Josh Feldman, who had a breakout race at Nationals, sophomore William Wolf, senior David Choi and senior Ryan Somerfield. Senior Jared Ripoli also returns for the men this fall. Jared will look to become the first IXC athlete ever to compete in the A-race at Nationals in all four years of his college career. He was the team’s second finisher at Nationals in 2014, earning second team All-American honors.

Also back is grad student Auburn Jimenez, who raced in a limited capacity last year. Auburn was the club’s top man at Augustana last fall, and he should be at the front of the pack in a full season of competition.

Plus, junior Quinn Todzo looks poised to make a splash after a phenomenal track season where he and a strong summer of training. He has consistently improved every season with the team. The team also has a talented group of incoming freshmen waiting to prove themselves over the course of the season.

There’s more unknown on the women’s team. Three athletes return from last year’s top seven in senior Emma Burkhardt, sophomore Anneliese Schulz and senior Allison Gibson.  Emma is the top returner and she’ll be looking to end her cross country career with a bang this season. After demonstrating a lot of potential all season, including a tenth place finish at Regionals, she’ll look to make some noise on the national level. Anneliese put together a strong track season and Allison impressed at last year’s Nationals, finishing as the team’s sixth runner.

There’s plenty of opportunity this season for women to step up and make an impact, and there are a lot of options.  Junior Erin McKee is back after a semester in Europe and she’ll be poised for a strong season. She was the team’s fourth finisher at Nationals in 2014. Senior Hannah Behle was the team’s top finisher in the Women’s B-race last year. There’s also a big group of promising new recruits. Look for a lot of different contributors for the women’s team this season.

A new face will be leading the club this season. Senior Ryan Somerfield is the fourth coach in program history after spending last season as an assistant to previous head coach Steve Krauklis. He follows Steve (2014-2015), Mark Hayes (2012-2013) and Jacob Englander (2008-2011) in the position.

The team will race in five meets this season, starting this weekend at Eastern Illinois. Next up is a trip to Rock Island for the always competitive Augustana Brissman-Lundeen Invite and a swing up to Wisconsin to race on a true cross country course at the UW-Parkside Lucian Rosa Invite. The postseason brings a new wrinkle to the IXC schedule. After hosting the NIRCA Great Plains Regional for the last three years, the team will head to Iowa State for the meet for the first time since 2012. The grand finale and ultimate goal of the season comes at the NIRCA National Championships, back in Hershey, Penn. for the first time since 2013.

The Illinois Cross Country Club kicks off its 2016 campaign tonight at the EIU Walt Crawford Open. Several freshmen will make their collegiate debuts as the team gets things rolling against teams from Division I through junior college. The Panther Trail is usually made more formidable by sweltering heat, but tonight’s forecast looks cooler than usual in Charleston, Ill.

Last year at EIU, the conditions were so poor that the meet was shortened to four miles. Jared Ripoli led the way for IXC, establishing the club record in the four-mile run and finishing tenth overall and David Choi established himself in the lead pack as the second finisher.

Jack Morrissey has finished in the men’s top seven in each of his past three races at EIU. He’ll look to complete the quadruple tonight.  Last year, Leonel Rodriguez put on a strong debut and he’ll look for a repeat performance this fall.

Several new freshmen will make their debut on Friday night in their first chance to race a collegiate 8K. Eli Walker, Brendan Stonequist and Jeff Abbott are a few of the names racing for the first time with IXC after a solid start to collegiate training. Also debuting will be Sean Frintner, the younger brother of top returner Michael Frintner. Michael shone at his collegiate debut at EIU in 2014 as the team’s third runner, tonight his brother will get his first chance to represent the club.

Emma Burkhardt is the top returning woman from this meet last year, where she finished as the team’s fourth runner. Junior Erin McKee and senior Allison Gibson finished sixth and seventh respectively. Erin will have her first chance to compete since last year’s Nationals after a semester abroad in the spring.

EIU will also be the first competition for many newcomers on the women’s side and the meet will provide the first look at which new recruits will contribute this season. Freshman Emily Condic put together a strong summer of training and senior Ellie Palacios should also make a splash.

The course is flat and favorable, and with some luck, the conditions will be more manageable than in years past. It provides a good introduction to collegiate cross country for all the newcomers and it will take strategy to succeed in the heat. The women go off at 4:45 and the men start at 5:30 to begin a new season of IXC.

The past two weeks marked the end to the 2015-2016 University of Illinois Club Track and Field season, and it culminated in some strong last performances. May 12^th and 13^th, members of the team traveled to North Central for the Dr. Keeler Invitational, and then on May 21^st a couple members traveled all the way out to Palo Alto, California for the Stanford Cardinal Open. Although there were not many athletes or performances in these weeks, there were still some very solid season end performances.

From the men’s side, it was mainly distance runners who competed at both North Central and Stanford. From the distance squad at North Central, Justin Shim and Sean Bruyere had very good PRs coming in at 4:19.74 and 4:29.99. From the Mid D squad at North Central, Kevin Lapp came through with a season PR (and incidentally club PR) of 54.88. At Stanford, distance coach Steve Krauklis had his final outing after a long arduous career of coaching and racing with a very solid 5k.

From the women’s side, at North Central, Megan Mocogni was the lone ranger with one mission; to break the women’s 10k record. In stunning fashion, she crushed the past record by a minute and 28 seconds with a time of 36:59! However, Mocogni was not done yet. A week later she competed at Stanford breaking her previous club record by seven seconds with a time of 17:37! Also competing very well at Stanford was Abby Madden who also ran the 5k. Abby ran a solid season best with a time of 19:22. For her solid race as well as just all around positive influence on the team in her four years, Abby Madden was given the final ITC Official Interview of the season. Check it out!

With that, I just wanted to say thank you. The end of the season has now come, and it has been my pleasure posting these write ups and interviews for all the readers and viewers. Moving forwards, many of the distance team members will be training very hard over the summer in preparation for the upcoming cross country season. Otherwise, the next track season is only 7 months away, so as always make sure to stay tuned.

Last weekend was the second of four peak meets, this one being at Purdue for their Rankin Invitational. This meet consisted of mostly athletes from the sprints and Mid D, and served as their final meet. Given that, let’s get into the specifics.

For the women, there were only sprinters who competed in the meet. Abby Ralph was only a 100^th of a second off from her PR in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.04. Jess Ayers also ran pretty well recording a season PR in the 400m dash with a time of 60.08. The highlight of the day for the women came in the 4×100 meter relay of Ralph, Ayers, Lauren Jonen, and Becky Haight when they set the new club record with a time of 49.46!

The men’s side also consisted of mostly sprints and Mid D, and likewise had some solid performances. From the sprints Mateusz Lopez, Jake Baier, and John Brandenburg all had club PRs in the 100m dash with times of 11.31, 11.50, and 11.57. Running well in the 200m dash was the afore mentioned Baier, Brandenburg, as well as Beau Barber with times of 23.35, 23.98, and 24.62. From the Mid D squad both Keith Lee and Cody Hansen ran well in the 800 both coming through with season PRs of 2:00.10 and 2:08.44 respectively.

With that, most of the team has now ended their season, however there are still two meets left to cover. The final write up of the season covering performances from North Central and Stanford, so make sure to stay tuned!

What a weekend! NIRCA nationals definitely deserved all the hype it got, and both the men and the women’s team scores came down to the wire. The men finished with 69 points good for third place overall. The women, for the 5^th year were crowned national champions with a total of 168 points. Besides just those who earned points, there were many other great performances across the board that were very much worthy of recognition.

The men’s distance began on Friday with the 5k, went into the 1500 on Saturday, and was capped off by the 3k steeplechase. The 5k, for Illinois, was led by Auburn Jimenez, who came through in a 15:26.90. William Wolf, Michael Frintner, and David Choi were not too far behind and all ran PRs with times of 15:34, 15:37, and 15:45 respectively. Also running very well in the 5k were Arturo Woodward-Montes, Adam Bills, and Tyler Dixon coming through in 16:23, 16:48, and 16:53 respectively. In the 1500, Ryan Somerfield and David Choi both had hard fought races coming through in 4:15 and 4:23 respectively. Freshmen Justin Shim and Muneeb Ansari both ran very good 1500s as well coming through in 4:25 and 4:39. In the Steeplechase, it was Quinn Todzo and Ryan Kelch who led the charge placing 8^th and 9^th overall with times of 10:12 and 10:13. Josh Feldman and Anthony Morgan, running 10:21 and 11:09 respectively, also set PRs.

The men’s Mid D and sprints team also had some great performances throughout the day on Saturday. Keith Lee, Sean McCarty, and Cody Hansen all ran solid legs in their 4×8 and open 8s highlighted by their open 800s with times of 2:01.34, 2:02.23, and 2:08 respectively. Tyler Splitt along with Lee and Luke Meyer ran very well in their 4×4 legs running 49s, 52s, and 54s for their splits. Beau Barber and Kevin Lapp ran good 400s with times of 55.63 and 55.79 respectively. For the sprints, Mateusz Lopez, Jake Baier, and Bill Frezentas ran good 200s running 22.75, 23.85, and 27.62 respectively.

The field events were the men’s highlight of the weekend in terms of points, and saw some very solid performances. In the shot put, Geoff Segal and Nitin Tangellamudi performed very well placing 2^nd and 5^th respectively with throws of 12.23 and 11.35. In the discus, Tangellamudi who placed 4^th, Morris Wang who placed 7^th, and Zach Sawackis threw well with marks of 33.67m, 30.58m, and 27.12m. In the jumps Mateusz Lopez again placed first overall, and again set a new club record in the triple jump with a leap of 13.49m. Sebastien Alvis had a solid long jump as well with a make of 5.64 meters.

The women’s team put on quite the show, and it was all started off in the distance events. In the 5k, Megan Mocogni placed first and got the club record with a time of 17:44! Also running well in the 5k, and setting PRs, were Anneliese Schultz, Sara Folliard, and Megan Frintner with times of 18:45, 19:11, and 21:14. The 1500 looked very similar to 5k, with Megan Mocogni in the front. Mocogni again placed first with a time of 4:49. Also running well in the 1500 were Sam Lapp, Anneliese Schultz, Emma Burhardt, also ran very well with times of 5:03, 5:17, and 5:22. Megan Frintner and Adriana Miltko fought hard in their races and ran times of 5:48, and 5:55. To cap it all off for the distance squad Emily Foley ran a great steeplechase placing 8^th in the race and 2^nd of all time for the club with a time of 12:30.

Becky Haight, Abby Ralph, Jess Ayers, and Lauren Jonen all had spectacular days leading the women’s charge. Becky Haight is first up, having great individual performances in the 100, 200, and long jump. In these events she went 12.67, 26.52, and 4.95m good for 3^rd, 2^nd, and 3^rd place respectively in the events. Next up is Abby Ralph who competed in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, the long jump, and triple jump going 16.03 (for the club record), 1:10.70, 4.91m, and 9.94m good for 3^rd, 5^th, 4^th, and 5^th overall. Jess Ayers ran individually in the 100 and 400m dashes going 5^th and 1^st overall in those events with times of 12.80 and 60.37. Senior head coach Lauren Jonen capped off her 4^th and final NIRCA nationals with individual performances in the 100, 200, and 400 with times of 12.59 (a club record), 26.11, and 60.65 placing 1^st, 1^st, and 2^nd overall respectively. These women also competed in the 4x100m dash, and 4x400m dash placing 1^st and 2^nd overall with times of 50.90, and 4:09.04 respectively. They scored a total of 106 points between the four of them!

The rest of the women also competed very well, especially in the throwing events. In the long jump Jenny Na had pretty sweet leap of 4.54 meters good for a club PR. Ali Djokic performed well in the 100m hurdles with a time of 18.44. In the shot put, Tare Emuze, Diana Kowalski, and Ali Djokic threw every well with distances of 9.39 (the new club record), 7.92, and 6.80 meters good for 1^st, 5^th, and 7^th place. In the discus it was Kowalski, Djokic, and Emuze again with throws of 27.98 (a new club record), 26,36, and 21.54 meters good for 1^st, 2^nd, and 6^th place overall.

After so many great performances, there were many who were well deserving of an interview, however it was Ali Djokic, who was everywhere from hurdles to throws who got the interview. Check it out!



And with that, ITC moves on to peak season, where athletes will compete in a few more meets to try and set PRs and records, so make sure to stay tuned.”,2016-04-16 15:32:34+00,XC
115,Quinn Todzo,Illinois Twilight and Benedictine Meet Recaps,”The past two weekends have been pretty quiet from most of the Illinois Track Club as many prepare for their peak meets coming up. However, there was still an ITC presence the past two Saturdays (4/16/16 and 4/23/16) at the Benedictine University Relays and Illinois Twilight. Although there were not many entries in either meet, there were still some very strong performances worth note.

At Benedictine, there were only three runners entered, yet all managed to do pretty well. Beau Barber went a little out of his sprinting element, and ran in the 800 with a solid time of 2:13.30. Luke Meyer had a very outstanding 400 breaking his previous PR by two seconds with a time of 54.91! Lauren Jonen highlighted the day running in the 400 as well, breaking her previous club record with a time of 58.16!

Illinois Twilight also saw some very strong performances. Megan Mocogni made club history and ran the club’s first outdoor 3k in a time of 10:09.95. Tyler Splitt set a new PR in the 400m dash with a sweet time of 50.39. The Women’s 4×4 squad of Abby Ralph, Jess Ayers, Lauren Jonen, and Becky Haight all ran very well and finished with a time of 4:04.33. Jonen also broke the club record she set a week before and finally ran under 58 seconds with a time of 57.44!

The larger peak meets are just around the corner with Valparaiso coming up next Saturday (4/30), Purdue on 5/7, and North Central on 5/12 and 5/13. Athletes will be trying to finally crack those times they have been training all season to hit, so make sure to stay tuned!”,2016-04-24 23:08:56+00,XC
116,Quinn Todzo,Valparaiso Crusader Open meet Recap,”This past weekend, ITC saw the first of four “peak” meets at where athletes were trying to finally hit those times and marks they had been striving for the whole season. The Athletes this weekend competed at Vaparaiso’s Crusader Open, and even though conditions were tough, there were still athletes who were able to still have great performances and personal bests.

On the men’s side, there were solid performances across the board. Starting with the sprints, Jake Baier set a club PR in the 200m dash with a time of 23.76. For the mid distance men, Keith Lee was able to pull out a hard earned 2:01.06 good for 4^th place in the meet in the 800. For the distance, Tyler Dixon and Adam Bills ran very well in the 5k running times of 16:29 and 16:53 respectively. Dixon’s time was actually a 24 second club PR! In a very tough and wet 3000 meter steeplechase race, Ryan Kelch was still able to pull out a 10:20 good for 4^th overall. In the throws, Andy Briggs threw a discus PR by 3 meters with a toss of 23.66 meters!

The women’s side was also able to pull out some great performances as well. Starting with the Mid Distance events, it was Emily Foley who led the Mid D women. She was able to run two PRs in the 800 and 1500 with times of 2:36.41 and 5:21.65 respectively. In the distance events, all three of the women who ran the 5k did very well. Anneliese Schulz, Emma Burkhardt, and Sara Folliard ran times of 18:53, 19:01 (a 32s PR) and 19:26 respectively. In the field, Becky Haight had a nice long jump performance of 4.97 meters. At the end of the day, it was the afore mentioned Emily Foley who was given the ITC interview this week for her 800 and 1500 meter performances. Check it out!



With that, this weekend, ITC is once again striving for those peak times, this time at Purdue, so make sure to stay tuned!

This past weekend, the Illinois Track Club traveled down to St. Louis to compete in the Washington University Invitational to prepare for the big test this upcoming weekend at NIRCA Track Nationals. The Wash U invite was split up into two days, with the 5000m runs and triple jumps on Friday April 1^st, and the rest of the events on Saturday April 2^nd. Although the weather was cold and windy, there were many strong performances going into Nationals.

From the women’s side, there were many solid outings all across the board. The women’s performances were kicked off on Friday by both freshman Sara Folliard and junior Emma Burkhardt who ran 19:17 and 19:35 respectively. Also from the distance squad, sophomore Megan Frintner also had a very good 1500 race despite the conditions coming through in a 5:56.30. Sprinters Lauren Jonen and Becky Haight kept the ball rolling with great individual performances in the 100, 200, and 400m dashes as well as the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Abby Ralph showed she was not finished crushing club records by breaking her old club record from last year with a great time of 16.08! Ali Djokic was everywhere from throws and jumps, to sprinting and hurdling events, but in the midst of all the craziness, she was able to have very good toss in the discus with a throw of 21.78m while also going 8.85m in the triple jump. Speaking of throws, Diana Kowalski made her club debut with a discus throw of 27.39 meters! Emily Foley also had good steeplechase performance with a time of 13:01.

Like the women, the men also had many strong performances across the board. Starting with the sprints, Joe Haight had a great last day with the club before going up to varsity by recording a 10.68 and club record in the 100, and also a club record and first place performance in the 200 with a time of 21.71! Good luck Joe (we will miss you). Also from the sprints squad, Jacob Baier and Bill Frentzas (in his club debut and first ever track race) ran well with times of 23.91 and 28.28 respectively in the 200m dash. Keith Lee from the Mid D squad had a very good 800 race with a time of 2:01.56. In the 1500, Ryan Somerfield, Brian Griffin, and Muneeb Ansari ran very smart races, despite the torrential wind on the back stretch. In the high jump, Hameed Odunewu recorded a solid mark of 1.80m. In the throwing events, Morris Wang threw very good in the shot and discus with marks of 10.52, and 25.91 respectively. In the steeplechase Ryan Kelch ran well with a time of 10:22. Finally on Friday, both William Wolf and Michael Frintner ran great 5000m races with times of 15:36 and 15:46 respectively.

With so many great distance performances, it was long time distance coach Steve Krauklis who got the ITC Official Interview. Check it out!

With that, Nationals starts on Friday with the 5ks and continues through Saturday with the rest of the events. Stay tuned on twitter to get live updates, and otherwise, get hyped because it’s just about time!

Saturday marked the 8^th annual Club Relays, and it was quite the spectacle. With the team finally coming fully together, fans were finally able to witness what the Illinois Track Club looks like in its fully fledged form. With 25 other clubs at the meet, there were a lot of close races. In fact, the men’s team scores came down to the last event, the 4×4. That being said, both the men and women remained the champions at the end of the day for the 8^th year in a row! With the impressive team finishes came a lot of great individual and relay performances, so lets get into it.

Starting with the men’s distance, although it there were 5 heats of the 3k and 11 of the mile, making the field very tough, yet the group of young runners were able to post some very excellent times and PRs. Michael Frintner and William Wolf led the men in the 3k posting times of 9:00 and 9:11 respectively. Arturo Woodward-Montes, Tyler Dixon, and Anthony Morgan posted big PRs as well with times of 9:23, 9:34, and 9:37. Coach Steve Krauklis, who also posted his best 3k in two years with a time of 9:46, said that Quinn Todzo “Killed It!” as well with a time of 9:14. Although the mile proved tough for many, Jack O’Neil and Alex Notton were able to lead to crew by both posting times of 4:34. William Wolf gutted out a tough 4:37, and Ryan Somerfield rounded out the scoring four with a time of 4:38. The afore mentioned Woodward-Montes and Morgan, as well as Brian Griffin and Jacob Tellez all came through around the same time in their heat with times of 4:43, 4:44, 4:43, and 4:44 respectively.

The men’s sprinting and relay events were very exciting and successful overall. The day kicked off with the 60m hurdles Hameed Odunew ran a 9.48, good for 3^rd overall in the meet. Distance runner/steeple chaser Dan Johnson, on short notice, competed in the 60m hurdles as well to help us get 3^rd overall in the event! The day started out with the 60 m dash, highlighting Joe Haight with his 7.11s time, which tied the meet record. In the 4×8 the relay team of Tyler Splitt, George Gunter, Keith Lee, and Jacob Tellez ran a solid time of 8:03, while the team of Brian Griffin, Jared Ripoli, Matt Dini, and Sean McCarty ran a solid time as well of 8:19. The highlight of the day for the men’s hurdles and sprinting events was in the 4x4s. The top 4×4 consisting of Splitt, Lee, Haight, and Mateusz Lopez ran an incredible meet and club record shattering time of 3:26.05 to win the meet for the men! The 4×4 team of Jerome Davis, Matt Dini, Sean McCarty, and George Gunter also ran very well coming through in a time of 3:32.37.

The men’s field events were very good and crucial to the victory. In the shot put, it was many athlete’s first meet of the year. Even so, the throwers were able to win their event being led by Geoff Segal and Sean O’Connor who threw 12.49 and 11.75 meters respectively. A special shout out goes to Andy Briggs who competed in his first ever track meet and threw a nice 8.52 meters. In the high jump, Hameed Odunewu tied for first with his 1.80 meter leap. In the long jump Mateusz Lopez fought through coming off a recent injury with a 6.01m jump. In the triple jump, both Lopez and Sebastian Alvis did very well with distances of 12.13 meters and 11.56 meters respectively.

The women’s meet was also very competitive as a whole with many great performances. The distance women had a similar story to the men with the fierce competition and tough double, but many as well were able to do very well. The 3k was led by Megan Mocogni and Anneliese Schultz who came through in times of 10:14 and 11:08 respectively. Abby Madden, Sara Folliard, and Audrey Vandercar all ran very well posting PRs with times of 11:17, 11:36, and 12:03. In the mile Mocogni led the team with her 3^rd overall finish with a time of 5:16. Mid D runners Sam Lapp and Emily Foley were numbers 2 and 3 for us with very good times of 5:24 and 5:47 respectively. Abby Madden, Megan Frintner, and Mariela Marquez also ran very solid races with times of 5:49, 6:20, and 6:25. A special shout out goes to Adriana Miltko, who prior to the season had never broken 7:00 in the mile, crushed it with a huge PR of 6:47!

The women’s sprinting and relay events contained many outstanding performances definitely worth noting. Starting with the 60m dash, Becky Haight, Lauren Jonen, and Jessica Ayers went 1, 2 and 3 in the meet with times of 8.15, 8.23, and 8.25 respectively. Becky’s performance ties the club record as well! The 60 meter hurdles also saw great performances with club PRs from Abby Ralph, Ali Djokic, and Jenny Na with times of 9.77, 10.75, and 10.83 respectively. Abby’s time was also good for a new club record! The women’s SMR relay team of Lauren Jonen, Becky Haight, Jess Ayers, and Katie Escobar crushed the field with a first place finish, meet record, and club record time of 4:21.01! The 4×2 and 4×4 teams of Jonen, Haight, Ayers, and Ralph got it done as well placing first in the heats with times of 1:50.00 and 4:11.77.

The women’s fields events were very solid and looked very promising looking towards the future. In the shot put, Tare Emuze and Ali Djokic went 1 and 2 overall in the meet throwing 8.74 and 7.00 meters respectively. In the long jump Becky Haight and Jenny Na had very good performances with leaps of 4.79 and 4.45 meters respectively. In the triple jump, Abby Ralph and Emily Chmelik placed 2^nd and 4^th with marks of 9.63 and 8.78.

With so many great performances this weekend, There were two separate ITC official interviews. For their crucial performances in the sprinting events, twins Becky and Joe Haight were given the first interview!

For the second interview, Lauren Jonen was interviewed not only for her very good performances, but also to get some insight into the next steps for the 2016 Illinois Track Club team!

With that, the team will take a few weeks off for training before they return to action in Terre Haute at Rose-Hulman for the first outdoor meet. For more information on future meets, check out the updated meet schedule under the tab titled “Race Schedule”. With that make sure to stay tuned!

With Club Relays just a week away, many members of the club took this past weekend off to rest up for the meet known as “Indoor Club Nationals”. Even though there were not too many entries, there were still some very strong performances from the athletes who competed at both Olivet Nazarene’s Qualifier and Illinois’ Orange and Blue.

Sophomore sprinter/jumper Mateusz Lopez was the highlight of the day coming through with great performances in the 200m dash as well as the long and triple jump. Mateusz set club records in both the Long and Triple with distances of 6.32m and 12.96m respectively! He also set a club PR in the 200m dash with a time of 23.34s. Middle distance runner Sean McCarty had a very good 800 meter race, with a notable 2:03.87 season PR. Jacob Tellez also ran well in both the mile and the 800 coming through with times of  4:43 and 2:04.06 respectively. Alex Notton closed out the day with a solid leg in the 4 by 800m relay coming through in an unofficial time of 2:02. All of these races were run at Olivet Nazarene.

From the women, there were also some very notable performances. At Illinois Orange and Blue, grad student distance runner Megan Mocogni set a personal record in the mile that put her at 2^nd on the all time list with a time of 5:08! Also running the mile, Mid D sophomore Sam Lapp made her club debut with a solid time of 5:24 at Olivet Nazarene. Distance senior Abby Madden ran a good 3k at Olivet Nazarene with a time of 11:24 in her season debut. From the sprint squad, freshman Becky Haight ran a season best in the 60m dash with a time of 8.25s and had her first long jump with a distance of 4.79m.

Looking towards this Saturday, the club will certainly be bringing the heat. Club Relays is the biggest indoor club meet in the nation, with 25 different teams all competing for the elusive title. From top to bottom, the athletes on the team have been striving through many tough winter workouts and daylong Saturday meets to prepare for this day. So, with a special edition of the ITC Official Interview, it was Sean Bruyere, the home meet coordinator that put the meet together, who got the spotlight, and will give some insight into the big event this weekend.

With that, get ready, because the first gun goes off in less than 48 hours. GET PUMPED FOR CLUB RELAYS!”,2016-02-26 00:13:18+00,XC