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On Friday, September 9, 2011 the IXC Club headed out to the EIU Walt Crawford Open in Charleston, Illinois. Conditions were perfect, with overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 60s. With such perfect conditions came some blazing fast times.

The IXC Women started off the day with a 5 kilometer race. The ladies did a fantastic job competing, putting 2 women under 20:00 and 10 women under 21:00. Amanda Zamora (So.) led the team with an incredible time of 19:12.82, breaking the former IXC Club EIU 5k record. Jessie Balagtas (So.) followed closely behind with a time of 19:16.05, en route breaking the old IXC Club EIU 5k record, too. Kerry Devitt, Victoria Knauf, Jess Mulcrone (Sr.), Ryoh Shinohara (Jr.), and Megan Mocogni rounded out the top 7 for the women on the day, all coming in under 20:40. All the hard work that the women have put in thus far is beginning to show. Nice job ladies!

The men, fueled by the stunning performances the women put up, set out to run some fast times for themselves in the 8 kilometer race. Led by Aaron Silver (Sr.), Mike Frigo (Sr.) and Paul Vandervelde (Law School Phenom), the team put on a spectacular display of early season strength, getting 3rd out of 11 teams in the race. Aaron Silver finished first for the IXC, getting 8th overall with a new EIU 8k club record of 25:29.68. Mike Frigo followed, running 25:32.81 and getting 11th overall. Paul Vandervelde and Brendan McDonnell (So.) were also able to dip underneath the 26:00 barrier. Matt Birkel (So.), Blake Flood (So.), and Brett Lustgarten (Sr.) rounded out the top 7 for the Men. Some awesome statistics from the day include:

– 4 men under 26:00

-10 men under 27:00

-All but 4 IXC Men running at or under their 8k PR

Some big performances that deserve some attention include Alex Harrison (Jr.), Evan White (So.), Mark Hayes (So.), and Zach Boehmke (So.) running at or over 90 second 8k PR”s. Top freshman on the day was Arthur Eng, who ended up finishing 12th for the IXCC Men and 64th overall.

In all honesty, one could not write enough on here to display how incredibly the IXC Men and Women ran at EIU this year. Everybody showed up to race, and conditions permitted them all to race fast. It was a great day all around.

The Illinois XC Club opened up their 2011 cross country season on Friday, September 2nd with the Illini Challenge. Coach Jake Englander entered 16 on the women”s side and 24 on the men”s side. Both teams placed well, with the women finishing in 4th out of 6 teams and the men finishing in 4th out of 7 teams.

The Women, competing in a 4 kilometer race, had many great performances. Because of the intense heat, the women went out conservatively and moved up well, while still being competitive throughout the race. Some notably outstanding performances included Jo Dibuz (So.) finishing first for the IXC Women and 23rd overall in a time of 16:09 and Amanda Zamora (So.) finishing 26th overall with a time of 16:22. Amanda was closely followed by Jess Mulcrone (Sr.), who finished 27th overall in a time of 16:43. Grace Hucek (So.), Megan McGreal (So.), Michelle Turner (Fr.) and Nikki Razik (So.) rounded out the Top 7 for the IXC Women. The rest of the women finished in their respective packs, sticking to the Illinois XC Club pack mentality well. What a great start to the season!

On the Men”s side, there were also some great performances. The blistering heat didn”t stop the new Law School phenom, Paul Vandervelde, from finishing 13th overall with a time of 19:33. Mike Frigo (Sr.) and Aaron Silver (Sr.) both clocked some new PR”s at the Arboretum by finishing in 17th and 19th place overall (respectively). Mike DeRenzo (So.), Brendan McDonnell (So.), Brett Lustgarten (Sr.) and Ryan Jorgensen (So.) rounded out the Top 7 for the IXC Men. With a 49 second split for 1-5, the men are going to be hard to beat this year. One other fantastic performance included the top Freshman of the day, Joe Zeller, finishing in 20:48, which was good enough for 36th overall. But, probably the biggest news of all was an IXC pack taking places 39-47, showing the Illinois XC Club Men at their absolute finest! Keep up the good work, guys!

On Saturday, April 16, the ITC competed in the first ever NCCTF Nationals.  The men and women both won the meet. The men won with 234 points over Bowling Green State University (117) and University of Michigan (96). The women won with 158 points over University of Wisconsin (106) and Northeastern University (104).  The day was full of spectacular performances. For the men’s 100, Matt Halberthal finished second and was followed by Jack Skelton in forth. In the 200, both came back to score with Jack Skelton placing second and Matt Halberthal placing fifth. Jack Skelton then came back to win the 400m Dash and was followed by Michael Brothers in third and Michael Krueger in fifth. In the women’s 100, Erin Murphy placed second and Jo Dibuz finished seventh. Erin Murphy came back to win the 200. Grace Hucek followed finishing fifth. In the 400m Dash, Jessie Balagtas finished third and Amanda Zamora followed in fourth. In the women’s 800m Run, Jo Dibuz won the event and was followed by Grace Hucek in seventh. In the 1500, Amanda Zamora finished fourth. In the men’s 800, Ryan Jorgenson finished second and was followed by Aaron Silver in fourth and Blake Flood, who scored out of the slow heat, in fifth. In the 1500, Aaron Silver won with Ghandi Pathik finishing in third and Alec Nickolls in sixth. In the 110m hurdles, Scott Luedtke finished second and came back in the 400m hurdles to finish second. In the 400m hurdles, Ben Kanevsky and Dan Herber followed in third and sixth. In the women’s 400m hurdles, Maureen Foley and Emily McGowan finished third and fourth. In the 3000 steeplechase, Kathryn Krueger led the Illinois squad to a second through fourth finish with Emily McGowan and Maureen Foley. On the men’s side Blake Flood finished second and was followed by Sean Berbert in fifth, Dan Herber in sixth, and Kevin Happ in seventh. In the men’s 5000m run, Mike Frigo ran away with the race to win and was followed by Brendan McDonnell in fifth. The 10,000m run featured a pack of Illinois runners finishing second through fifth. Brett Lustgarten led the pack and was followed by Alex Harrison, Steve Kliene, and Matt Birkel. For the women’s 5000m run, Tennie Renkens ran away with the race to win. Lauren Frisbie and Jess Mulcrone followed in third and fourth. In the 10,000m run, Ryoh Shinohara placed second and Mary Looby placed fifth. In the relays, the women’s team placed second in both the 4x100m and 4x400m and third in the 4×800. On the men’s side, the teams placed first in the 4x100m and the 4x800m and placed second in the 4×400. In the Men’s Triple Jump, Manny Del Rio finished second and Steve Kelder finished fourth. In the Long Jump, Steve Kelder finished seventh. In the Shot Put, Matt Kmet finished second. In the Discus Matt Kmet finished second and Andy Becker finished seventh. For the Javelin, Ben Kanevsky placed second, John McCown placed sixth, and Aaron Silver placed seventh. In the women’s Triple Jump, Jess Mucrone placed fourth. In the Long Jump, Erin Murphy placed first and Grace Hucek placed fourth. In the Shot Put, Ryoh Shinohara placed eighth. The ICT will next race at Illinois College and Hillsdale on April 29^th and 30^th.

On April 9, 2011, the Illinois Track Club competed at Western Illinois University. The men placed 14^th with 11 points. In the 400, Jack Skelton scored running 49.60 to place 8^th. He was followed by Ben Kanevsky in 53.18 and Matt Luedtke in 57.47. In the 800, Ryan Jorgenson led the ITC in 1:58.06. He was followed by Michael Schmidt in 1:58.97, Michael DeRenzo in 2:01.26, Alex Manaois in 2:04.17, Zack Boehmke in 2:05.63, and Nathaniel Carter in 2:07.31. In the 1500, two people scored. Aaron Silver finished second in 3:57.38 and Pathik Ghandi finished seventh in 4:01.02. John McCown followed in 4:30.06. In the triple jump, Steven Kelder jumped 11.98m to set the club record and in the Discus Throw, Matt Kmet threw 32.89m to break the club record.

With the sun shining down and the cold brisk of winter fading into the horizon, the warmth feeling of spring is beginning to peek around the corner. Riding the coat tails of spring is that old familiar friend which we”ve all grown to love: Outdoor Track Season. With break behind them, the Illini have returned after a hard indoor season and is now stronger than ever. Wash U is the first official outdoor meet every year, and every year we look forward to opening our strides up on the less-claustrophobic track under the lights. With trust in their coach and training, the Illini packed up this past weekend and headed down to St. Louis, MO for the long awaited 2-day meet.

Day 1. As the Illini began trickling into the meet, there was a strange feeling in the atmosphere. It was as though something, or someone, was trying to tell them that they were about to shock the world of club running that weekend. The day began with a few notables, namely, in the field events. Steven Kelder exceeded expectations when he leaped an astounding 12.3m in the triple jump, which was more than enough to score for the team. Matt Kmet continued to swing the momentum in the hammer throw, launching it 42.21m, also scoring for the team. The women”s team showed excellent performances with Jess Mulcrone running 20:04 in the 5000m after struggling on and off with injuries. Alas, as the sun began to set, the highly anticipated men”s 5000m was about to begin. It was a fight right from the sound of the gun. This was not going to be a tactical race. It was going to be fast. It was going to be a race of guts. Everyone that toed the line and everyone who was watching knew it well. High expectations were riding atop Michael Spillone and Michael Frigo, and they knew it. It”s a good thing that these two thrive under pressure. They were prepared to fight the field. Back and forth, they went… and in a flash, the race was over. Spillone and Frigo has crossed the line taking 2-3 in a blazing 14:37 and 14:39 official time respectively. Setting the standards high for the club, the rest of the day was left to the enduro-beasts known only as the 10,000 meter runners. Brett Lustgarten led the 10k runners in his first 10k ever with at time of 33:25. Freshman Matt Birkel soon followed in 33:37. With The Great Steve, freshmen Adam Snyder and Ben Zeman running 33:56, 34:04 and 35:02 respectively, the team currently stood 2nd overall. The pace was finally set for the following day to come.

Day 2. After a night of rest, the Illini returned to the field, hungrier than ever. Freshman Amanda Zamora kept expectations high for the Illini as she ran a 5:03 in the 1500m. Michael Spillone and Michael Frigo returned and doubled in the 1500m race and took 1-2 with a time of 3:59 and 4:00 respectively. After the previous night”s performance, the word ‘”surprising'” was no longer part of the club”s vocabulary. Pathik Ghandi ran a great time of 4:06. With all these great times, the sprinters felt a need to have their voices heard as well, and day 2 was their time. Jack Skelton was able to add on more points as he ran 50.39 in the 400m dash. Freshman Matt Halberthal gave an excellent performance in the 100m dash as he scored with a time of 11.06. Pathik Ghadi showed an impressive double as he finished his day off with a 1:59.62 in the 800m. The steeplers were also anxious to show what they were capable of. Freshmen Emily McGowan was able to score some more points for the Illini as she ran 13:30 in the women”s 3000m steeplechase. On the men side, Freshmen Blake Flood led the way for the Illini and there were personal records set across the board. Our very own Alex Harrison, a 10k runner, showed a great performance on day 2 as he set a personal record in the 400m race, counter-productive to 10k running, whilst blazing a 60.8.

Overall, this was a great weekend for the club. Records broken, standards set, and expectations high. This is only the beginning. Club Track Nationals is just around the corner, and we”ve only begun to play…

As the sun comes to rest on the evening of March 18th, the majority of students attending the University of Illinois pack their cars anxiously looking to escape into the oasis that is Spring Break. However, within the midst of all the commotion, a small group of dedicated steeple-chasers mentally prepare for their first chance at attacking the dreadful water pit, which quietly waits at the back turn of the Rose Hulman track. The pain of racing 3000 meters with 28 barriers and 7 water jumps has now taken over their thoughts. Spring break is the last thing on their minds. The 2 hour trip to the track seemed to have flashed by in an instant before they began warming up for their first steeple race of the year. The fresh smell of pine filled the air during the warm up and faded during the last couple of striders prior to the race.

Emily McGowan, Blake Flood, Sean Berbert, Kevin Happ and Dan Herber can now feel the uncomfortable butterflies within their stomachs. How strange it is! Taken over by the same feeling before every race hundreds of times prior and yet it still lingers. It is fine though. All part of the routine. All part of the motions. All part of the rituals before the race. Within a blink of an eye. BANG! The gun goes off and, just a quickly as they settled, the butterflies scatter away. A small field on both the men and the women’s side of the race, but it makes no difference. These proud ICCTC runners approach every race as if it were their last. This was Emily McGowan’s first steeple race and she gave ICCTC a great starting momentum by placing 3rd overall and setting a new club record with an impressive 13:53.37.

Not too long after, the men of Illinois followed with a strong performance. With freshmen Blake Flood dominating the previous club record in a time of 10:18.85, taking 2nd place. Senior Sean Berbert soon closed the gap in 10:33.12, taking 3rd place for the Illini. Kevin Happ (11:01.74) and Dan Herber (11:11.20) showed great potential in their first ever steeple races, taking 6th and 8th place respectively. With everyone setting a new personal record, at the end of the day, the steeplers of ICCTC showed great performances at their first outdoor meet of the season.

We hope to see big things from, not only the steeplers but also the rest of ICCTC further down the road this season. The ICCTC is currently preparing for the annual WashU outdoor invitational next weekend in St. Louis. And so beings the outdoor track season.

On Friday, February 18, the ICCTC competed at the Eastern Illinois University Friday Night Special. The night started off with the 5000m where Ryoh Shinohara ran 18:41.05 and Alex Harrison ran 16:17.02. The men’s 3000m run followed where there were a number of spectacular performances. Mike Spillone set the club record in 8:35.48. He was followed by Mike Frigo in 8:39.22 and Aaron Silver in 8:41.32, both breaking the previous club record. Brendan McDonnell also ran a great race in 8:49.81. In the women’s 3000m, Tennie Renkens set the club record in 10:38.37. In the 600m run, Mike Brothers just missed the club record in 1:25.38. In the women’s 800m, Jo Dibuz (2:24.78) and Lexie Wirtas (2:28.5) ran good races.  In the men’s 400m, Jack Skelton set the club record in 51.29. The ICCTC will next compete at the NITCA Midwest Regional in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

On Saturday, February 7, the ICCTC men and women defended their titles at the 3^rd Annual Illinois Club Relays. The men won with 102 points over Michigan (72) and NIRCA Cross Country Champions Wisconsin (69). The women won with 90 points over Wisconsin (78) and Michigan (28). The day held a number of great performances.

In the Women’s 55m dash, Selah Lee won setting the meet and club record in 7.72. In the 3000m Ryoh Shinohara finished second in 11:07.72 and paired with Jess Mulcrone won the Relay event. In the 4x200m Relay, the women’s team of Selah Lee, Anjelica Maranan, Emily Schabinger, and Jo Dibuz won in a club and meet record of 1:57.27. The 4x400m Relay also featured a club record with the team of Amanda Zamora, Lexi Wirtas, Grace Hucek, and Jo Dibuz winning in 4:30.89. In the 4×800 Relay, Lexi Wirtas, Jessie Balagtas, Jo Dibuz, and Danelle Woods won in 9:52.35 in a meet and club record. In the 4×1600, Jessie Balagtas, Amanda Zamora, Emily McGowan, and Danelle Woods finished second in a club record of 22:34.85. In the SMR, the team of Selah Lee, Anjelica Maranan, Emily Schabinger, and Grace Hucek won in a club and meet record of 4:53.16. In the field events, Selah Lee won the triple jump with a jump of 9.12m.

On the men’s side there were a number of great performances. In the 55m Dash, Matt Halberthal set the meet record along with his own club record in 6.67 and along with Ben Schmenk, won the relay event. In the men’s 3k, Mike Frigo won in 8:47.04 followed closely by Mike Spillone in 8:47.92 both breaking the club record and winning the relay event. Brendan McDonnell also ran a great race in 8:54.08, finishing 3^rd overall. In the 4x200m Relay, the team of Matt Halberthal, Jack Skelton, Jason Wandrey, and Mike Kruger won in a meet and club record in 1:35.64. In the 4x400m, Jack Skelton, Ryan Jorgenson, Mike Schmitt, and Mike Brothers won running a meet record of 3:32.32. In the 4x800m, Ryan Jorgenson, Pathik Gandhi, Mike Brothers, and Aaron Silver ran a meet and club record of 7:57.32 winning the event. In the 4x1600m Relay, Blake Flood, Alec Nicholls, Mike Frigo, and Aaron Silver ran a great race to win in a meet and club record of 17:55.62. In the Shot Put, Matt Kmet won the event with a throw of 12.26m. In the triple jump, Manny Del Rio won with a jump of 11.79m and paired with Steve Kelder, won the relay event.

On Saturday, January 29, the ICCTC competed at the Titan Open at Illinois Wesleyan University. Things got started off quickly in the men’s Distance Medley Relay where the women’s team, comprised of Tenne Renkens, Grace Hucek, Jo Dibuz, and Danelle Woods, ran away from the field with a club record of 12:50.48. In the men’s DMR, the A team featuring Aaron Silver, Jack Skelton, Mike Brothers, and Mike Spillone broke away from the field and ran a new record of 10:19.36. The B team also ran a great race finishing just behind the second place team in 10:41.85. The members included Mike Frigo, Mike Schmidt, Pathik Gandhi and Brendan McDonnell. In the mile Ryoh Shinohara ran a great race in 5:29.84 and Jessie Balagtas ran 5:44.52. On the men’s side there were many great performances by Blake Flood (4:38.78), Kevin Wolz (5:01.35), and Jake Englander (5:04.19). In the 3k Victoria Ngo-Lam (12:37.02), Jessica Ang (12:43.14), and Maureen Foley (12:36.82) ran well on the women’s side while for the men Brett Lustgarten (9:20.58), Alex Harrison (9:30.59), Andy Becker (9:48.01), and Ben Zeman (9:54.68) put out good performances. In the men’s 800, Ryan Jorgenson ran 1:58.08 in a new club record and, Nathen Carter (2:09.05) and Cory Cameron (2:10.14) ran great first races. The men’s 4×400 consisting of Matt Halberthal, Ryan Jorgenson, Mike Brothers, and Jack Skelton set a new club record to finish off the day in 3:29.95. In the shot put, Matt Kmet improved his own club record by throwing for 12.76m. The ICCTC will next compete on Saturday in the 3rd Annual Illinois Club Relays.

On Saturday, January 22, the ICCTC opened up their season at the EIU Mega meet and had a number of promising starts to the season. In the 60m, Matt Halberthal began his season breaking the 60m record in 7.21. In the 600, Jo Dibuz ran 1:44.76 breaking the club record. Selah Lee also went on to break the record in the triple jump jumping 9.53m. In the shot put, Matt Kmet threw for 12.17m breaking his own club record. In the jumps Scott Luedtke and Manny Del Rio had promising starts. The ICCTC next compete in the IWU Titan Open next Saturday.