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Thanks for keeping the seat warm IXC, but now it’s time to return to the track where we judge how fast we can run in circles or how far we can throw heavy objects. ITFC is gearing up for an incredible season and shook out the preseason rust at this early bird meet at the Illinois Wesleyan Titan Open. While we didn’t have our full arsenal of athletes, it was a great chance to get back into the competitive mindset. While this was the first meet of the season, the Illini showed up to compete, setting multiple All-Time Bests for the club throughout all of the events! It was an exciting day to watch and we’ll see just how well the Illini performed with the individual results.

First event of the day was the Women’s 60 Meter Hurdles. Our only athlete, Desarae Echevarria, came in at speedy 10.35, a huge improvement over her 10.60 she ran at this meet last year. For the Men’s 60 Meter Hurdles we saw Decker Elias run a 9.54 in qualifying and came back in a huge 9.27 for finals.Not only was this an amazing PR, but also our 7th All-Time Bests for men’s 60m hurdles!
The next races were the 60 Meter Dashes. On the women’s side, Maria Becerra crossed the line at an 8.98. Cayman Beckham followed suit at a 9.37. This was both of their first ever collegiate races and much improved over their November testing times! Nice job ladies!

Representing the men, we saw a promising pack of young first-time racers. We had Shawn Rosofsky finish in a 7.37. Andre Ells ran a 7.50. Jad Karajeh close behind with a 7.55. Finishing the 5 second spread, Grant Brown finished at 7.60. Coming in at a strong tie we saw Anthony Lu and Ben Junkroski both finish with a 7.78. Matthew Steele ran a solid 7.91. PJ Coleman finished at an 8.80 and our very own social coordinator Shantanu Amin crossed the line at 9.78. Great races gentlemen!

The next set of races we saw our Illini compete in was the 300 Meter Dashes. Starting with the women, Tatiana Montanez ran a solid 47.60. Natasha Ferrero close behind at 47.84, our 9th All-Time Best for women’s 300-meter! Another record setting performance by Ciara Ward, she topped it off at 48.40, our 10th All-Time Best for women’s 300-meter!

Onto the men’s 300 Meter Dash, Justin Davis ran an impressive 37.29. Andre Ells finished at 39.52. PJ Coleman continues to make enormous gains and finished the Illini off at 46.44, excited to see where this man will go.

Moving onto the mile, we saw a preview of some of our distance runners fresh off cross-country nationals, the rest we’ll have to wait for. Starting with the women’s, we saw Lauren Gapinske finish at an impressive 5:30.50, winning the women’s mile! Margo van Loon was next at a 6:07.24, which apparently was faster than she ran in high school already! She has her sights on sub 6. Close behind was the daughter of legendary Marty Calkins, Audrey Calkins at 6:09.73.

For the men’s mile, we had one sole competitor, Mr. John Kellum. John had a terrific cross-country season and carried that over to run a 4:30.80. Looking forward to his upcoming track season!

For the men’s 3000 Meter Run, we saw a battle of the elderly. Leading the charge for the Illini at a solid 9:37.72 was Ryan Somerfield. If you’ve been on this club for a while, you know that Ryan has put in a ton of work not only for himself as an athlete, but also for the team. He’s had an incredible 6 years on this club and will be deeply missed. Wassim Elhouar ran his first ever 3K and crossed the line at 10:10.63, not bad for a first-timer!

We had quite the showing of Illini in the men’s 600 Meter Run. Starting us off was Patrick Willhalm at a solid performance, setting the 8th All-Time Best for men’s 600 meter at 1:26.12, probably from all that cross-country racing in the fall. Following up close behind was distance runner Nikita Smyrnov also setting an All-Time Best for the club, 10th to be exact, at 1:27.29. Third for the Illini was Drake Heisterkamp close behind Smyrnov at 1:28.77. Henry Hornbrook won his heat and finished at a solid 1:31.08. And topping it off was 20 year grad student, Beau Barber with a time of 1:34.76. Excellent job boys!

The women’s 600 Meter Run saw Katherine Vande Pol run a speedy 1:43.64, setting the 2nd All-Time Best for women’s 600 meter run! Margo van Loon crossed the line at a 2:05.92. Impressive job ladies!

Leading the way for the women’s 200 Meter Dash, we had Zoe Tsokolas run a blistering 28.12, a club All-Time Best for the women’s 200 meter dash! Desarae Echevarria followed up with a 28.46, setting the 9th All-Time Best time! A great reason to be proud of those performances! Maria Becerra was able to break 30 seconds and finished in a 29.96. Ciara Ward ran a solid 30.35 and Melissa Suarez finished off for the Illini at 34.83. Very strong showing by the women in the 200 meter! Excited to watch their season unfold!

On the men’s side, we had Adam Adil start us off strong at a 24.00. Very impressive. Shawn Rosofsky ran a 25.14 with Ben Junkroski close behind at 25.22. Anthony Lu finished at a 25.31 and Grant Brown was also close at a 25.58. Elias Decker ran a 25.86 and Matthew Steele finished close by with a 25.91. Lots of Illini in this race, and PJ Coleman finished it off at a sub 30, 29.66.

Last race event of the day was, of course, the 4×400 Meter Relay. Starting with the women’s, our first team comprised of Katherine Vande Pol, Desarae Echevarria, team player Audrey Calkins, and Lauren Gapinske ran a cumulative 4:24.50. Our second team contained Zoe Tsokolas, Natasha Ferrero, Maria Becerra, and Margo van Loon. Together, they ran a speedy 4:49.45.

For the men’s 4×4, our A team, Andre Ells, the soon-to-be-alumni Ben Junkroski, Justin Davis, and Elias Decker, ran a solid 3:45.03. Team B, Adam Adil, Nikita Smyrnov, Drake Heisterkamp, and Beau Barber, was not far behind at 3:47.70.

Onto the field events.

In Women’s High Jump, we saw Yuliya Ilnitzkaya jump an impressive 1.45 meters, which ties the 3rd All-Time Best for women’s high jump! Women’s Long Jump had Melissa Suarez jump 3.48 meters.

For our Men’s Long Jump competitors, starting us off was Ben Junkroski at 5.86 meters, a 9th All-Time-Best for the club and a PR! An incredible performance for his last meet with the club. Shantanu Amin unfortunately fouled out but will come back stronger at the next one.

Yuliya Ilnitzkaya lead us in the Women’s Triple Jump with an impressive 9.55-meter jump, a 6th All-Time Best performance! On the men’s side, Jad Karajeh jumped 12.72 meters.

Congrats to all our athletes that competed this past weekend. We saw a ton of All-Time Bests and it’s only December! Excited to see where all of our athletes end up as the season progresses! Whether you’re happy or upset with your performance, we have a long way to go until nationals in April, plenty of time for training and more chances to compete. Will ITFC be able to recoup after losing one of their most valuable athletes, Becky Haight? Will Evan Patel be able to complete this season injury free? Will Julia Hughes finally say yes and go to the 7th grade dance with Alex Bienduga? Tune in next time to find out!

Official Results:
https://www.iwusports.com/documents/2019/12/7/final_results_iwu_12072019.pdf

Last weekend at Pole Green Park was the end of the season, and for some of our Seniors, the end of competitive cross country racing in general. Overall, the top-7 women collectively ran their best race of the season, finishing 5th place with 168 pts, just 10 pts away from a trophy. The top-7 men did not have the best day at the office, but still walked away with a 9th place finish and 246 pts in a tough field.

The great thing about club running specifically is that there is so much more to this team than just trophies, medalling, and setting PR’s. Running is not the main goal in life for anybody on this team, yet the men and women of IXC choose to devote their time, energy, and focus to this sport. I have nothing but respect for the effort I see my teammates put in at practice, and the sacrifices they make to log those miles, and I will do my best to reflect that in this last recap of the season.

Before we get into talking about races though, let’s take a minute to give thanks for the parents that helped make this nationals trip possible. Thank you Mr. Calkins, Mr. Mcgrath, the Mollways, the Kellums, and the Ludwigs for spending 4 days driving vans full of amped-up college kids across the country. We take those.

Strap yourself in because this is going to be a long one, but in the words of the wise sage Lil’ Pump, “Esketit”.

1. A battle of two tanks, the open race smackdown

The first race of the day is always a good pacesetter for how the rest of the meet will go. Justice Carter has been adjusting to running at the college level, but put himself out there in the open 6k, finishing with a time of 21:37.2. Our other absolute unit, Freshman Tristan Taylor , ran 23:40.5, which with a haircut equates to about an 18 minute 6k right there. Both of these guys come back next year, and their records were good enough to warrant promotion out of the open race next year. We love to see that.

2. The Women’s Junior/Senior/Grad Race: Grandmas can run fast too!

In the face of injury after injury, a lot of people would quit. Not Grace McDonough though. In pain, dealing with possible stress fractures, and not being able to run much in the lead up didn’t stop her from finishing 37th overall in a time of 26:15.9, just 40 seconds off her all-time PR! We’re all looking forward to her recovering, and then seeing what she can do while healthy, but she is the definition of not giving up. Senior Brianna Legner was next for the women with a time of 27:34. It wasn’t the way she wanted to go out, but one race does not define a season, and one race does not define a running career. She has trained hard and come so far in the past 3 seasons, and there’s a whole track season left to make a statement. Senior Leah Ziolkowski has felt irrelevant on this club at times due to unfortunate injuries keeping her out of running. But she has been anything other than irrelevant, working her way back from having trouble walking, to shattering everyone’s expectations (including her own), with a 90-second season PR and a time of 27:37.8. She has been a consistent presence at every nationals race from her freshman year to now in spite of everything she has had to deal with. We wish her the best in her future endeavors, and hope that running is still on the table in the future. Abby Ludwig was the last competitor in the Big Gorls race, and had a HUGE day at the office, knocking out a 2.5 minute season PR and running 29:56.6. She probably picked up a thing or two from being abroad, and running fast was one of them for sure!

3. The Men’s Junior/Senior/Grad Race: Illinois Dogs play fetch and retrieve paper

The next race of the day saw a bunch of old boomers run against a bunch of other boomers with one goal in their pacemaker-fueled hearts: Get. Paper. Former Wheaton Tokyo Drift Star Matthew Beckerman was the first to achieve this goal, coming back from early/mid season injury and illness to run a PR on a long course in 27:16.3, good for 12th overall! His teammate and running partner, Mouse executioner and head track coach Cody Lund , almost threw up at the end their, but secured paper with a 13th place finish in 27:18.4. Cody does a lot outside of running: biology research, being a beast academically, and scrubbing running clubhouse floors for PENNIES a day, but he still finds time to give to the club. Thanks for a great 4 seasons, bud. You really do it all.

Weird to write about myself, but Jarod Meyer finished in a time of 28:02.9. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I came to nationals for my friends, and you all delivered. Our local rocketman, Senior Daniel Engel , put it all out there and was rewarded with a 28:47.9 time! How this kid can even walk with less than 4 hours of sleep every day is a miracle, but he doesn’t just walk: he runs. And he runs pretty damn fast. If I could sum up how I feel about Daniel’s performance, I only need to think of the title of Dan’s favorite Pitbull song, “I Like It”.

It seems fitting that Evan Patel would finish in 69th place. It’s not surprising that he ran a fantastic race in 28:55.1 despite having literal calf tears, internal bleeding, and other injury issues. If there’s one thing you can learn from Evan, it’s heart. It doesn’t matter if his body is a bloody, torn-up pile of ground beef, because his mental game is a prime cut of rib. An uninjured Evan season is medium-rare, but these meat puns are meant to highlight his tenacity and dedication. Senior Matt Dickinson quietly joined the club in his Sophomore year. It’s fun to look back and see how much of a club mainstay he has become in the past two years, and he certainly stomped the competition with a 29:13.9. Sad to see him leave, but rumor has it he might not be if he stays for his master’s! Either way, keep running, Matt! Our German exchange student Lukas Koller finished next for the Illini men in 29:17.4. Already a respectable time, but this guy ran the marathon literally right before Nats. He probably summed it up best when after his race he said, “ I was feeling good then at 2 miles the marathon said hello”. Thanks for joining the club this semester, and all the best when you return to Germany! Our Mid-D coach Patrick Wilhalm was next, and after getting gassed up all night at the Nats rap battles, how could he not have a fun time? The finishing time of 29:46.4 may not have been what he wanted, but he represented Mid-D well with a massive finishing kick, and should be a presence in the 800m this track season.

Wassim Elhouar endures a lot of boomer jokes for being old, but it’s kind of fair because he is 30. Sorry, truth HURTS doesn’t it, Wassim. He used that pain to put together a great performance though. His goal was to break 30 in his last chance of the season, and despite being sick and barely having a voice, he pulled it out on a long course with a 29:48! Pardon my language, but holy shit! A lot of times I wonder if I’ll still love running as much as I do now when I’m older. Watching Wassim, a guy nine years my senior cross the line with that much enthusiasm reminds me that people may age, but a love for running doesn’t have to go away. Thanks for the reminder, and here’s to more PRs in the future, man.

Olan Bruyere will always get his own paragraph. Especially after showing off the hottest memes on the nats trip. He also ran an aggressive race, and was rewarded with a 6-second lifetime PR in 31:09.6. Oh Olan, my Olan. I’d follow a man like that to hell and back.

Wrapping it up for the men was Senior mainstay, and 4 year Nats tripper Alex Hanskat . He ran his race in 31:17.5, but he wasn’t running to compete this season, anyway. I’m glad he stuck around, because the club culture wouldn’t be the same without him. This is supposed to be a neutral-ish Nats recap, but whatever. I’ll miss you man, and IXC wouldn’t have been the same without you from my first day at practice Freshman year to now our last race together. You’re one of my best friends, and I hope I can still catch you for a run in the future, even after this club running thing is over.

4. Women’s Championship Race: 5th on the course, 1st in our hearts

There were a lot of questions on how well the Women’s top-7 would do this year at Nationals, but they showed up on the big stage, and almost came away with at trophy in the process. Leading the charge was Sophomore Natalie Sarris , who finished 14th overall for First-Team All-American Honors in 22:29.4. She put herself out there, all the way back to the first race of the season, and capped off a phenomenal first season. We’re excited to see how she does in Track! Sophomore Grace Gudwien ran a masterful race, moving up the entire time, and finished 17th overall with Second-Team All American honors in 22:43.0. She’s developed into a leader on this team, and all you need to do is see that Orange Illinois wig to know she is one of the loudest cheerers out their too.

President Julia Schultz did not have the best nationals race, finishing 33rd with a time of 23:08, but the fact that she can still run fast with all she has done for this club is truly inspiring. When you’re the big #1 on the club, you shoulder the weight of all the criticism, all the duties of the executive board, and still have to find a way to train. She’s worked hard all season long, and though IXC may be over, her time with running is far from done. Thanks for all you did this season, Julia, guess we won’t be sending you to jail after all.

Senior Mia Bertaud has been a consistent performer on the club since she joined during Sophomore track, and has slowly gotten better and better as the races have gone by. She ran awesome to finish 64th overall with a time of 24:00.7. Good to have you on the team, Mia, and looking forward to track! Freshman Brisa Mcgrath got hopped up on TWO caffeine pills pre-race, and moved up well to finish 67th overall in 24:06, right behind Mia. She follows in the footsteps of other Mahomet superstars like Soap-peddler Willy Wolf, and the Butcher. She’s got 3 more years of XC, and All-American Paper (maybe even a MEDAL?) is looking like a possibility. Mikeelie Jensen may have taken the world record for most injuries unrelated to running, but she worked hard all year, and ran her tail off to make the top-7 lineup as a freshman. She finished in a time of 25:22, not far from her PR, and will be ready for track!

There’s a lot of people who dedicate themselves to the club, but probably very few who can say they’ve given as much to this club as Senior Riley Maloney . From making the ultimate sacrifice freshman year by being the sole girl to eat dinner with multiple HEINOUS freshman cross country boys, to bringing so much to the social events and behind-the-scenes work on the club, Riley really has done a lot. She ran 26:25 by the way, despite a lot of injuries and other things, but she leaves a more lasting impact on the club in terms of what she’s done to help establish a welcoming team culture. Cheers, Riley.

5. Men’s Championship Race: Dogs place 9th in stiff competition, ready to chow down next year

The men didn’t have the day they wanted to have when they placed ninth, but their performances were nothing to be ashamed about. Sometimes it’s not our day. All you can do is show up anyway, and go down fighting. Head coach Josh Mollway had a busy day at the course. Between handing out race bibs, giving pre-race speeches, cheering on teammates, and running around the course like a headless chicken to take videos and pictures, he somehow found some time to race too. It might not have been what he wanted, but 25:49.6 for 19th place and Second-Team All American honors is pretty damn good. He’s a real role model on the team, and a great coach too. He’ll be back faster next year. East-European Hacker Nikita Smyrov almost hacked his way up into the All-American honors, finishing 36th overall in a time of 26:14.1. He pushed himself to the breaking point, and it’s been great to see him back in shape again.

The race I was most excited for at Nats was probably John Kellum’s . The past two years I have mercilessly clapped his cheeks at Nats (by 1 second), but I was really hoping he’d get the better of me this year. He did more than that, and ran a PR to take 52nd overall and a time of 26:27.1. The best part of his race was seeing that massive smile taped to his head through the entire course. To know your running the race of your life is a great feeling, and if it really is Kellum’s last XC race, then what a way to close it out. Mahomet legend Brian Butcher has been recovering from his fantastic marathon race earlier in the year, but being the legend he is he ran 26:36.5 on a long course. Great work man, you’ve earned yourself a whiskey. Sophomore Justin Ostrem did not have the best race of his season, running 26:51.2, but he worked hard all year to get into shape, and will take all of those gains into the track season and the XC seasons to come.

I’ve watched Connor Farrell psyche himself out before races from stress, but I’ve been really happy this season to see him relax and have fun with it. Even with all the pressure of coordinating a 4 day trip for a club, which he somehow pulled off beautifully, he looked smooth out there in running 26:58.3. Great job and good luck next year. Make Papa Rod proud.

I used to be intimidated by old redbeard my Freshman year on IXC, but after eating potato salad and tossing the pigskin around at a tailgate last year, I realized out loud that “Wow, I thought he was a dick, but he’s actually a great guy!” Ryan Somerfield did not have a great day at Nats when he ran 27:48.9, but he’s been so much more than a top-7 runner. From my coach freshman year, to being a grad-student mainstay these past two seasons, to just being a great friend for everyone, Ryan has been one of the people that have really defined what the running club should be. I hope everyone has gotten to interact with him a bit before he finally leaves for good this semester.

6. Women’s Frosh/Soph Race: Questionable Sideline Chanting propels Fr/Soph women to fast times

The women of the Frosh/Soph race had to deal with some questionable motivation tactics by the Illinois Dogs XC team. But hopefully repeated barking and screaming helped them on the course out there. This club has a great group of young women out there, and we’re all excited to see what they’ll do in the coming years.

Freshman Annika Koester rallied the troops, finishing first for the Frosh/Soph women in 25:04.9, good for 23rd overall. Maybe it’s cheating that she gets all that extra running in at ROTC, but it’s more impressive that she can train on top of that. Freshman Lauren Brunk has been consistent in her first semester at Illinois and broke 26, PRing with a 25:58.3! On to track season, Lauren! Freshman Maddy Feehan ran a great race to end up with a 26:18.7, passing about 15 people in the final straight with a devastating kick. She’s ready for some shorter distance races in track. Audrey Calkins may have puzzled her dad when she led a rendition of “Truth Hurts” in the van-ride to nats, though she definitely made Marty proud with a 26:35.4. Her Nats rap also gassed people up with nothing but compliments.

Freshman Lauren Bartels not only broke 29 for the first time, but almost dipped under 28 with a massive PR of 28:10.0. She’s been running even better than in high school, and having a lot of fun doing it. Congrats! Maggie Kosterman dealt with mid-season injuries, but was still able to commit to a 4 day trip, and ran 28:37.2! Nice job, and we all hope she can have many healthy seasons in the future. Gabby Aguilar-Ripley ran 29:10.5. She wasn’t happy with the finish, but she has had consistent practice attendance, and will be back with some great performances in track and next year.

Natalie Maguire didn’t necessarily have the race she wanted when she crossed the line in 30:22.7, but it’s impressive to see how much she puts into running even with everything else she has to do in life (like being in a business FRAT, SLATT!). She came back from food poisoning just a week earlier, and has so much else going on that its a testament to her dedication that she can still come out and race her heart out. Mary-Rose Farruggio ran a great race at her first Nats, finishing in 34:15.1, and it’s great to see her improve so much in her first season. Looking forward to having you come out for track and next year!

7. Men’s Frosh/Soph Race: Young talent shows off intangible metrics at NIRCA Combine, scouts impressed

The last race of the day showcased the young pups of the Illinois dogs, and the scouts were really impressed by their performances. Spencer Nelson kicked it off with a 27:47.4 for 38th place. He’s got some pretty good football highlights from middle school, such as an absolute touchdown snag, so great to have a multisport athlete leading the frosh/soph. Jeffrey Hesselbein was a man on a mission Saturday afternoon. His mission? Beat. Alex. Kogen. 3 miles in and the gap was enormous, but Jeff was not a man to fail his mission, and drove himself to the point of puking to cross the line in 28:12.2, mission accomplished. We joke around on this club a lot when it comes to Alex Kogen , but he has done a great job as treasurer of the XC club. It’s a tough job when you have to get all these scrubs to pay up so this club can function, but he found his stride as the season wore on. He has also run gutsy this season, and put himself out there to run a 28:18.1. I’ve had the privilege of watching this guy develop from high school to now, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much further he goes in the next few years.

Lucas Carillo woke up after a fantastic night of sleep, woofed down a whole bowl of his favorite special K for breakfast, and ran his best race on the club so far in 28:26.1, a PR! He proceeded to lock himself in the porta-potty and listen to “Gunnar” for the next hr, but he earned it.

Tim Green also ran great, finishing with a time of 28:48.0. His true calling, is the NIRCA Steeplechase though, where he’ll be back and healthy during track. Liam Bots ran a solid 28:48, but being the competitor he is, is already looking forward to track where he can improve his finishing speed. It’ll be exciting to see how fast he runs on a good day. Cade Baker has been around on the club since he visited practice as a high-school senior last track season. It was great to see him actually join the club, come to practice consistently, and wrap up his first season with a sub-29 in 28:59.4. Was it the fastest time he ran this season? No. But he’s got 3 years to keep getting better and better, and we all know he will.

Nathan Saltzman was next for the Illini, running 29:02.4. He’s got 2 more years to keep improving, and he’s consistent enough to make it happen. Freshman Garrett Minich looked great in his first Nats race, running 29:15.0, and it’ll be fun to compete with him in track as well. Arthur Mazzeo has been one of the quieter members of the running club this season, but he’s quietly had himself a great first season, capping it off with a 29:23.1 at Nats. On a long course, that may very well be a PR over his 28:59 on the Aurora short course earlier. Great job! Freshman Norb Nieves came painfully close to breaking 30 minutes in his last race of the season, running 30:03 flat. While a bummer, Norb has improved a ton in his first season with the club, and has 3 more years to take down 30, 29, 28, and who knows how fast? He made up for not breaking 30 by breaking my ankles in basketball later that weekend though.

Who was that I just saw? It was Nate Sun , streaking across the course in his torn up racing shorts and finishing in 30:08.1. Nate has worked hard this season, putting in the work even when he couldn’t make practice, and we hope he does track this year! Marcus Herrington PR’d in his last race of the season to run 31:06.4. After track and into next year, look for that time to continue dropping in the future, but a great way to end Nats! Thomas Tran should really consider changing his last name to Train , as he certainly finished like one in his last race of the season. He passed tons of people in the second half of the race, and PR’d by 90 seconds to run 31:20.2! The work was done throughout the whole season though as he trained hard and showed up when he could. I’m glad he was rewarded with an end to the season that he earned. I learned at Nats that Nathan Zachar is allergic to a lot of things, but being a champion is clearly not one of them. He ran hard and he ran smart to finish in a PR of 31:25.4. Nicely done man, and get ready for track!

I could probably write a 10 page essay on all the good qualities of Mr. John Feeley , but this is a very long recap already so I’ll spare you guys. Even still, I feel like every race John runs is a new PR, and he did it again running 31:32.8. He has been a model of consistency since his first days on the club back last year, and I’ve watched him drop down from the 34 minute 8k range to now knocking on the door of the 30-31 minute range. Nicely done, and keep going!

8. The not forgotten Peanut Gallery

Whether or not you had the best race of your life or one to forget, at the end of the day we should still be grateful for the opportunity to run. The cross country season is, unfortunately, too short for us all, and some people have injuries that force them to watch from the sidelines. Home meet coordinator Bryan Himmel may have had a stress fracture that kept him out from racing, but if anyone’s presence was still felt on the course, it was his. From organizing Regionals, heading out on multi-day trips to Lewis and Nats just to see his friends compete, Bryan is a perfect representation of all a good teammate should be. He’s working hard to come back healthier and stronger than before, and I know I’ll be checking live results to see how he does at Nats next year.

9. Final thoughts and signing off

There’s a great quote from Alexander Dumas: “Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.”

In a lot of ways, this applies especially to cross country. For some of you, Nats was your moment in the sunlight: Big PR’s, NIRCA Paper, a great end to the season. For others, maybe it was something you weren’t happy with. Either way, there comes a time when all we can do is just keep pushing on: logging the miles, trusting in the process, and showing up whenever we can. What really makes you a cross country runner isn’t how you finish a race, but how you deal with everything in your life to get to the start line, and what you do next when that finish line doesn’t come as fast as you want it to.

It’s been great getting to know all of you in my last season on the club, and although I’m sad to leave, I can see that the club has a bright future with all of you. Keep running, keep trying, and us Seniors will keep cheering you on from the sidelines.

This is it, the moment IXC has been training for all season long. Saturday, Nov 16th, the men and women of IXC step onto the course at Pole Green Park in Virginia and give it everything they’ve got. From the Frosh/Soph to Junior/Senior/Grad, and to the top 7 level, our athletes are ready to compete with the best of NIRCA. But while the competition is the main reason for our 4 day trip out East, multiple storylines outside of the race will add to the intrigue.

1. Will Justin Ostrem defend his rap title?

Last year hearts were broken at the time-honored nats rap tradition, as Justin Ostrem delivered a 30 page manifesto of cold-hearted rhymes to take the nats rap crown from previous champion Jarod Meyer . Justin looks to defend his title, but he will have to contend with some of the best, ice-cold thugs in the game. Look for XXL Freshman Rapper of the Year Arthur Mazzeo to fire off some heavy hitter lines. And who could forget about upstart Brisa Mcgrath , who had the audacity to slip a copy of her newest mixtape into the NIRCA Regionals coordinator’s hand at the award ceremony??? Look for Connor Farrell to disappoint with some weak bars as well.

2. How fast will Daniel Engel eat his Jimmy John’s Sandwich?

Fresh off his victory in the Domino”s Pizza Challenge, (where he ate a medium cheese pizza in 3:28), Daniel Engel has his eyes set on eating a Jimmy John”s sandwich as fast as humanly possible. Will he finish in 60 seconds? 30 seconds? One bite? Who knows. Will it be pretty disgusting to watch? You bet.

3. Which van will win the drag racing competition?

In all this turmoil, let’s not forget to thank the sets of parents who have volunteered both their time and support to drive us from Illinois to Virginia for the meet. But while their are 5 sets of vans being driven by parents to Nirca Nats, only 1 van can win the inter-van IXC drag racing competition. The competition is steep, and it’ll take some serious tokyo-drifting to beat the likes of the Mollways and the Kellums on the open road.

4. A Day at the Races: Gambling

What sporting event would be complete without some forms of underground betting? While officially no betting is taking place, rumor has it that Grace Gudwien stands to win upwards of $400 if Matthew Beckerman takes a dive at Mile 3. The question is, will Beckerman’s sense of moral integrity get in the way of a payout that could secure his early retirement? So much INTRIGUE.

5. Oh yeah, people are racing too.

Good luck to all IXC runners this weekend, and thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible. Stay tuned for updates as the meet unfolds, and a nice 10 page lab report with chicago mla citation style to recap it all!

The weather gods decided to turn illinois into an ice rink the weekend of November 2nd, but that didn’t stop IXC from putting on a show at the Arboretum. Team titles? Individual titles? Political intrigue? Dogs? 8K courses up to 200m too long? This meet had it all.

In a complete 180 of the meet schedules IXC has been accustomed to, the men ran the 8k first. Leading the way was head coach Josh Mollway , who won the race with a time of 26:15.5! However, don”t let this man distract you from the fact that in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 16 ft through the announcer”s table . Taking 2nd place overall was Justin Ostrem with a time of 26:51.3. He was followed by John Kellum (who is really having a go of it this season) in third with a time of 27:12.3. Next up was grandpa Ryan Somerfield , who got cucked out of fourth place by some northwestern kid by 0.3 seconds, but still ran solid to get fifth in 27:14.2. He has his eyes on the prize, however, and is ready to turn on the jets at nats. Nikita Smyrnov also got cucked by Ryan by 0.3 seconds, finishing in sixth place with a time of 27:14.5. Connor Farrell ran aggressively, and was rewarded with an eighth place finish in a time of 27:18.7. Brian Butcher , still recovering from his marathon, rounded out the top 7 with a time of 27:27.0.

Local frat god, “grease monkey”, and headband wearer Matthew Beckerman was next for the IXC men in a time of 27:54.3. He was followed by freshman Spencer Nelson, who ran 28:14.4, and team loanshark Alex Kogen , who ran 28:22.4 in possibly his best race of the season so far! Jeffrey Hesselbein was next in 28:44.3. Team bulldozer Liam Bots just barely missed breaking 29 minutes with an official 29:00.2, but the course was long by almost 200m so he essentially got it. Bool brothers Tim Green and Lucas Carillo finished consecutively with times of 29:03.6 and 29:11.0. I don’t know if it was planned or not, but that is heart-meltingly adorable. Robbie Sieczkowski was next through the line in 29:22.2. Cade Baker , Lukas Koller , and Jordan Meyer all came through close together in times of 29:27.6, 29:29.3, and 29:32.9, respectively. Jordan’s time brought ten thousand years of shame and dishonor to his family line, sadly, despite being a solid race.

Freshman Arthur Mazzeo has been steadily improving throughout the season, and ran a great time of 29:47.6 on a long course. Local Busey men and aerospace maniacs Matthew Dickinson and Daniel Engel came through together in times of 29:49.3 and 29:51.3. Middle distance coach Patrick Wilhalm finally ran something longer than 1 mile in a day, finishing in a solid time of 29:55.5. Nathan Saltzman and the oldest undergraduate student in living memory ( Jacob Fleck ), came through next in 29:56.8 and 30:02.7.

Wassim Elhouar really likes it when I call him out as an old man in these writeups. Old dustbag boomer Wassim Elhouar ditched his walker and test-drived his new hip-replacement at the Nirca Regionals early bird special. He finished in a time of 30:22.4, but back in his day you could buy a whole soda pop with a 30-31 minute 8k. Nate Sun finished his first 8k of the season in a time of 30:35.1, which also makes him eligible to buy a soda pop in the old days (1920? Not sure how old Wassim is…). Freshmen Norb Nieves and Garrett Minich came through together in times of 30:52.3 and 30:53.1, respectively. Big PRs are on the horizon at nats!

Detroit Lions fan and Urbana enigma Alex Hanskat finished in 31:18.2 to punch his ticket to Nats round 4, followed by Sam Barranco and Nathan Zachar in times of 31:25.2 and 31:32.6. The hulking mass of raw muscle known as Olan Bruyere barrelled through the finish line in 31:35.7, taking out several bystanders in the process. Marcus Harrington took advantage of the massive lane Olan opened up, crossing the line in 31:40.8, good for a first down. John Feeley opened up a can of whoopass to finish in 31:55.8.

Evan Patel , sporting a new haircut and a sick tan, crossed next in 32:10.9, followed by freshman Justin Baysore in 32:26.1. Thomas Tran ran great to finish with a time of 32:49.6, and is ready for a huge PR at nationals. Webmaster Jarod Meyer , sporting a new haircut and a sick tan, finished in 33:23.3, and brough ten thousand years of honor and prestige to his family line. Freshman Raymond Romero crossed next in 33:33.9. Isaac Schifferer finished in 34:58.5, and Senior Sean Frintner ran one last regionals, finishing in a time of 35:12.9. Bryan Himmel closed it out in 37:29.3. Nicely done, lads!

Now onto the women. As has been the theme this year, Sophomore Natalie Sarris dominated the competition to win in 22:49.4. She should be at the front during nationals. Grace Gudwien and President Julia Schultz took 2nd and 3rd overall in great races of 23:23.5 and 23:32.2, respectively. Freshman Brisa Mcgrath completely skipped the 25 minute range to run a 24:08.8 and placed 5th overall. Sub-24 is knocking on the door now too. Mia Bertaud ran a PR despite muddy conditions and some lingering sickness to take 7th overall in 24:11.0! Grad aerospace maniac Noel Brindise was 6th for the team in 25:14.9, followed by Freshman Annika Koester in 25:41.2, to round out the top seven.

Freshman Mikeelie Jensen was next up with a solid performance of 25:52.6, and even better, didn’t hurt her ankle at the race! Riley Maloney gave her all and came through in 26:19.9, and is ready for a great last nats. Freshman Lauren Brunk charged through in a time of 26:29.9, followed by Clare Oehler and Emily Condic in times of 26:43.6 and 26:51.3, respectively. Ally Tippett ran well to finish in 26:53.7.

Brianna Legner ran smoothly to finish in 27:19.0, followed by big dog Grace McDonough in 27:23.0. Big shoutout to Grace, who came close to her all-time PR despite dealing with a year’s worth of injuries, and on a long course in less than ideal conditions too! Maddy Feehan was next in 27:37.3, and Lucy Jensen beat her time from Lewis with a 27:55.8. Senior booler Margo Van Loon and Freshman Audrey Calkins were next in 28:25.2 and 28:33.2, respectively. Gabby Aguilar-Ripley finished in 28:47.9. Leah Ziolkowski was all smiles as she finished her first xc race in almost a year, running 28:58.9! It’s been a long time due to injuries, but welcome back, Leah! Katie Sledz and Lauren Bartels ran well, finishing in 29:27.3 and 29:27.8, respectively. Natalie Maguire moved up well and gave a great effort to finish in 30:23.7. Freshman Maggie Kosterman and Senior Abby Ludwig were next, in 30:49.1 and 31:11.6, respectively.

Mary-Beth Feeley ran a 1 minute PR to finish in 31:43.1, and Mary Rose Farruggio also PR’d by over a minute to run 35:03.2! Great job, ladies!

And that recaps a fantastic home regionals meet for the club. We now have one chance to take home the gold (or some paper certificates/instagram photos/PRs/Jimmy John’s sandwiches next week at nationals. Stay tuned for the nationals preview!

Awkward sweaty handshake,
The IXC exec board

Heavy rains slogged the course at Lewis University in Romeoville last weekend, but the runners of IXC refused to be deterred by less than ideal course conditions. Stiff D2 level competition allowed our runners to mingle with and race teams of a higher caliber than will be encountered at NIRCA Nats.

Starting with the women’s race. As per usual this season, Natalie Sarris ran a well-measured race, moving up the whole time and finishing 39th overall to lead the team with a 23:31.6. Ms. President Julia Schultz was next for the team, with a solid time of 24:19.4. 20 seconds later, Grace Gudwein came through with another solid performance in 24:40.9. Freshman Brisa Mcgrath had a great top 7 performance in 25:34.5. She was followed in close order by Senior Mia Bertaud in 25:53.5. Freshman Audrey Calkins was 6th for the team in 27:30.4. Rounding out our top 7 was Freshman Mikeelie Jensen in 27:43.8. This was an excellent return to racing for Mikeelie, who ran the race after 2k with only one shoe, and after dealing with ankle sprains and other injuries in the lead-up. Running with one shoe is an interesting tactical choice, but in this case it clearly paid off. Next time 2, 3, or even shoes may lead to a faster time though.

Up next was a very close pack of runners. Clare Oehler, Maddy Feehan, Riley Maloney, Emily Condic, Lucy Jensen, and Lauren Brunk , who all finished within 15 seconds of each other with times of 28:07.9, 28:08.3, 28:11.4, 28:12.4, 28:15.6, and 28:23.3, respectively. Now that is the kind of pack running you like to see on this team! All runners in this group ran excellent, but a special shoutout to Riley Maloney, who is regaining some excellent form through hard work and dedication after dealing with injuries in past seasons.

Next up for the Illini was Brianna Legner in 29:23.1, who is working hard to catch up to the “mega-pack”. Then came Gabby Aguilar-Ripley 29:29.4. Grace “Big Dog” McDonough 29:38.3. Lauren Bartels came through in another solid performance of 32:53.8, followed by Natalie Maguire in 33:10.3. MaryBeth Feeley finished in a time of 34:56.7, followed by newcomer Mary Rose Farruggio in 36:34.6, and Katelyn Howley in 37:59.8. Nice job ladies!

Now for our muddy men. The men’s 8k for IXC was paced by head coach Josh Mollway , who ran a very solid race with a time of 26:19.1, not too far off from his fast-course times, and on a really slow day. Ryan Somerfield and Justin Ostrem were next for the Illini with times of 27:38.8 and 27:46.6. John Kellum and Matthew “Becky” Beckerman ran hard-fought races to finish 4th and 5th for the team with times of 28:09.2 and 28:12.8, respectively. Big shoutout to Becky, who based on his performance was likely pretending to be sick with the flu and injured from a motorcycle falling on his leg the past month. Thanks for hustling me and the other gamblers, Matt. Because of you, I lost thousands of dollars, my house, my car, and my wife to the casino. I only kept $12 because of a small hedge bet I placed in case you had the race of your life… oof.

Connor Farrell was next for the men in 6th on the team with a time of 28:23, followed by Freshman Spencer Nelson , who ran a great race to make his first top-7 appearance for the club in 28:29.9! Well Done! Loan Shark/IXC Treasurer Alex Kogen took some time out of beating up freshman for their meet money to finish 8th on the team in 29:23.3. Jeffrey Hesselbein was next in 29:40.4, followed by Cade Baker in 29:56.5. Breaking 30 minutes was no easy feat on the Lewis Course. Senior Daniel Engel just barely missed dipping under 30 with a 30:00.1, however this was a super-fast race for the lad on a tough course. He is ready to run a heck of a lot faster at regionals if he got more than 1 hour of sleep a week. Freshman Justice Carter finished close behind Daniel with a 30:02.7, and Garrett Minich was another 7 seconds back in 30:09.3.

Finishing close to Garrett were the goon boys Lucas Carillo and Tim Green, who came through with times of 30:17.9 and 30:20.1, respectively. What a bunch of THUGS. Liam Bots was only 0.7 seconds behind Thug Tim, but Liam is a good boy. Nice race and a nice guy! Old man and grad student Wassim Elhouar finished up telling some youngsters about his service in the merchant marine corp during the war, just in time to race at Lewis, and finished with a time of 30:53.9. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Wassim is getting fast. Mid-D Coach Patrick Willhalm ran about 200x as far as he usually runs to make his season debut in the 8k with a time of 31:29.0. He finished next to Senior Zac MacAdam , who we are happy to have back this season!

Freshman Arthur Mazzeo was next in a solid time of 32:01.5, followed by Norb Nieves in 32:19.2. Two other Freshman, Nathan Zachar and Saif Kazmi , also went under 33 minutes with times of 32:27.3 and 32:40.1. Marcus Herrington and John Feeley came through together in times of 33:05.9 and 33:07.8.

Olan Bruyere gets his own paragraph as usual. It’s not favoritism, it’s science. He ran 34:07.1.

Running under the fake name of Evan Patel was Sam Barranco, who finished in a time of 34:14.1. Our secretary Evan is a FRAUD and a HACK, so I’m glad it was actually Sam who ran under his name. Evan told me to “roast him in the meet recap”. I would go into more heinous detail, but the executive board told me to keep this professional. Feel free to message me on linkedin for roasting of Evan Patel .

Finishing it up for the IXC men were Raymond Romero , Thomas Tran, and Tristan Taylor with times of 34:36.9, 34:37.5, and 34:52.9, respectively. Although the IXC women’s “mega-pack” was the best out there today, these freshman guys have a solid group going too.

And that finishes up the race performances for IXC at Lewis. However, this weekend would not have been possible without several families of IXC members opening up their homes to host the club overnight in the suburbs. A special thanks to the Schultz, Feeley, Mollway, Minich, Jensen, and Hesselbein families for hosting our runners last weekend! We appreciate your support!

Till next time! Get excited for IXC regionals AT HOME this year in the arboretum on Nov 2nd!

In past years, the Augustana XC meet was a brutal affair, with temperatures often in the 90+ degrees range. This year, however, the conditions were perfect. Low temperatures and a flat course set the stage for some fast times; and the men and women of IXC certainly took advantage of the opportunity

First, the women’s race. As a team, the women performed great against NCAA programs, finishing 7th overall with 175 points. Sophomore Natalie Sarris lurked in the top 20 through the first mile of the race, and then blasted away from the field. She maintained a massive lead throughout the final mile of the race, and was the individual champion in a time of 22:05.7, second all-time in club history! Up next was sophomore Grace Gudwein , who moved up throughout the race and finished 6th overall in 22:45.4. Working with Grace was our president, Julia Schultz , who held on through nausea. Her toughness was rewarded with a 17th place finish in 23:03.0. Mia Bertaud hung back from the initial fast pace, and picked off runners as she moved up throughout the race, finishing with a time of 24:39.4. Freshman Maddy Feehan was next with a time of 25:57.3. She was followed by the ever inseparable Lauren Brunk and Audrey Calkins , who ran the entire race together with near identical times of 26:24.0 and 26:24.3 to finish 7th and 8th on the team.

Senior Brianna Legner has now gone 2/2 on PR-ing in races this season, with a 26:46.3 effort. NIRCA drug testing policies are essentially non-existent, but we sincerely hope she is clean in the wake of the recent NOP revelations! After struggling with injuries the past year, Junior Grace Mcdonough showed no struggles today, running a time of 27:05.3. To quote, “I was feeling gooood”. We hope that good feeling isn’t from any association with Alberto Salazar. Senior Margo Van Loon was next with a solid time of 27:55.8. Even better, she is a top contender for teammate of the year already, reportedly encouraging teammates and even other competitors WHILE racing. Lauren Bartels ran a strong race, and finished with a 30:01.1 PR. Sub 30 is knocking on the door. Natalie Maguire ran 30:25.7, and freshman Marybeth Feeley ran 32:38.4. Katelyn Howley and newcomer Mengyan Liu wrapped it up for the women with times of 38:32.2 and 42:02.4. Keep an eye out for some huge drops in time as we get closer to nationals!

Next, the men’s race. Although the U of Chicago xc team was the class of the field, with a perfect score of 15, the IXC men had an excellent performance in grabbing 2nd place as a team, beating out many solid D2/D3 programs in the process. Coach Josh Mollway started off relaxed and moved up as usual for 7th place overall and a 25:36.6 time. Sophomore Justin Ostrem has been killing it at practice lately, and ran 25:59.7 for 22nd overall. Ole man Ryan Somerfield ran 26:14.9, and felt smooth throughout. He is looking to get out less conservative next time, and we all know he can run sub-26 when he’s feeling good. Junior John Kellum has struggled with running cross country in the past. The workouts have been there, the track times indicate high potential, but the races just haven’t come together in XC. That was not the case at Augustana, where Kellum finally had the race he knew he was capable of, running a massive PR of 26:33.0 in the process! Who knows how much faster he can run?! Congratulations man!

Glorified carpool planner Connor Farrell followed up his Aurora performance with another top-7 finish in 26:33.7. Sadly, he didn’t eat a Culver’s afterwards with the bulk of the team… nerd. Nikita Smyrnov paid the iron price for going out hard with the leaders, finishing in 26:40.6. However, what is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger. We love the aggressiveness this early in the season. Cody “Dr. Thicc” Lund was next in 27:15.5. He has been running well and running consistent. Matthew Beckerman had a series of unfortunate events; a motorcycle fell on his leg, and he was out with the flu for weeks. You wouldn’t have even noticed it seeing how this guy ran a 27:49 on about a week of running, just off his PR! Freshman Spencer “Spencie” Nelson was next in 28:02.3, followed closely by the hard closing, heavily injured, and possibly roided out Evan Patel in 28:08.3. Dojomaster Alex Kogen and Freshman Justice Carter , (who was making his debut), finished together in 28:20.3 and 28:21.5, respectively. Freshman Cade Baker got all pumped up listening to his favorite rapper, Yung PP, in the car ride over. It showed today with his 28:27.7, but he probably should listen to actually good artists, like Queen , and Tech N9ne.

John Walls ran 28:44.1 in his first race for the club, followed by Tim Green , who PR’d with a time of 28:46.0. Lucas Carillo also PR’d with a 28:54.9, despite still being sick after a month. Nice sub-29 though! Freshman Arthur Mazzeo and Sophomore Nathan Saltzman also finished closely together, with times of 29:16.7 and 29:20.9. Daniel “Rocket” Engel ran a 29:28.6, and likes rocket-related things. Despite having a tough semester, Matt Dickinson has still been putting the work in with night runs on his own. He finished with a time of 30:04.8, and is still running close to his best! Senior Zac Macadam returned from his year-long sabbatical from the club, and ran great with a 30:34.4. Marcus “Mr. 5:20” Herrington went out a little too quick, but still finished next to Nathan Zachar , with both finishing in times of 31:07.2 and 31:07.7. Rumor has it thanos ran the 8k at Augustana. Those rumors were correct, as John Feeley dished out a little street justice with his 31:44.3 time. This guy has been consistent with his training, dedicated, and has been dropping time like a goon. Sam Barranco and Tristan Taylor were next in 32:15.7 and 32:19.3, respectively.

How could I respect myself as a webmaster if I didn’t give Olan Bruyere his own paragraph in this writeup? Luckily, I clearly respect myself. Olan Bruyere ran 32:30.4 for his 8k. Sometimes a big dog’s gotta eat.

Three freshman rounded it out for IXC men. Raymond Romero , Isaac Schifferer , and Thomas Tran ran 33:26.6, 33:44.4, and 33:45.6. Keep an eye on this training group; they”re only going to get faster and faster.

And this concludes another successful outing. Good luck to our runners at the Lewis XC invite tomorrow, and expect a recap of their performances soon!

Friday the 13th is traditionally viewed as an unlucky day, but the men and women of IXC had anything but that on the first race of the season at Aurora, producing some super fast performances. With perfect weather and a flat course, the team did not disappoint.

On the women’s side, new Sophomore Natalie Sarris ran her first 6K with the club in a stellar 22:15.0, good for 4th place overall and one of the fastest times in club history! After a summer of consistent training, our President/overlord and local coffee junkie Julia Schultz was 6th overall with a time of 22:34.0. Sophomore Grace Gudwien had a terrific first season with the club last year, culminating in an All-American finish at nationals. She continued to impress at Aurora this year, coming through with a top 10 performance and a massive PR of 22:51.9, skipping the 23 minute zone entirely. Mia Bertaud was 4th for the team with a time of 24:12.4. Freshmen Annika Koester , Mikeelie Jensen , and Sophomore Clare Oehler rounded out the top 7 for the women with excellent debuts of 24:45.5, 25:02.0, and 25:23.1, respectively.

Following them was a stream of new runners dropping some impressive times. Maddy Feehan ran 25:26.5, followed by Ally Tippett with a 25:40.7. Brisa McGrath and Lauren Brunk finished closely together with times of 26:15.0 and 26:22.0 respectively. Audrey Calkins raced despite having bronchitis, but still produced a great time in 26:46.4. We’re all looking forward to seeing what she can run while healthy. After a summer of training on her own in the corn fields, Senior Brianna Legner showed up with a PR of 27:10.6! Margo Van Loon ran her first ever race in a great time of 27:36.0 and finished next to returning Sophomore Gabby Aguilar-Ripley , who ran 27:38.8. Big dog Grace McDonough has dealt with a frustrating series of injuries in the past year, but raced with a time of 27:48.4! It’s great to have her back in action! Our very own Gender Minority Captain Riley Maloney was next in 28:16.4, and is hungry to improve as the season goes on. New freshmen Lauren Bartels and Maggie Kosterman were next in 29:18.8 and 29:19.4, respectively. Grad student Anna Winnicki was next in 29:37.1, and Sophomore Natalie Maguire rounded it out for the women with a 30:06.1. She is looking forward to running better next time, and we all know that she will drop lots of time as the season goes on!

On the men’s side, the charge was lead by the supreme duo of Head Coach Josh Mollway , and Russian hacker Nikita Smyrnov , who finished neck and neck in 25:36.2 and 25:36.4, good for 4th and 5th place overall! Justin Ostrem also dipped under 26 minutes and was 9th overall with a time of 25:54.3. Junior Brian Butcher had an oof moment and forgot his spikes at home, but still impressed with a 12th overall and 26:01.7 performance in trainers. God, what a heart throb. Ryan Somerfield didn’t have the race he wanted but still ran well, finishing 16th overall with a time of 26:11.9. Ole redbeard will be back for sure, and he has his sights set on getting another piece of paper (or better) at Nats. Webmaster Jarod Meyer broke 28 and 27 minutes for the first time with a 26:22.6 performance to get 25th overall and, even better, cucked Travel Coordinator/Aspiring Soundcloud rapper Connor Farrell out of the last meet t-shirt. Connor still ran a fantastic PR in 26:25.4 for 26th overall, and is happy to be back and fit again. We’re all looking forward to his album too.

Continuing the stream of IXC men was converted Sophomore Middle-Distance runner and Newman Hall Guru Jeffrey Hesselbein , who in his first 8K ever ran a ridiculous 27:01.5. Some quick math shows that the 8K is 10 times as long as the 800m, making this a very impressive run for a big step up in distance. Freshman Spencer Nelson also ran great in his IXC debut, closely following Jeff with a time of 27:02.7. Merry thiccmas definitely came early this year, as Senior Cody Lund ran a PR of 27:11.1. Sophomore Jordan Meyer also PR’d huge with a time of 27:29.3 while running on no sleep the whole week. John Kellum did not feel great but still ran a 27:41. Kellum will be dangerous later in the season when the good races start coming. After punishing his body with feats of strength before school even started, McChicken enthusiast and naughty secretary Evan Patel still broke 28 minutes with a 27:48.8 performance on a destroyed leg. Once he ups the caffeine dose to the kilogram range, he’ll drop that by another 5-10 minutes. Up next was Daniel Engel who shattered his PR and is knocking on the door of the sub-28 range with a 28:01.4. German exchange student Lukas Koller ran a time of 28:24.8, with freshman Cade Baker right behind him in 28:26.4. Very nice debuts! New Freshman Arthur Mazzeo ran great to finish in 28:59.5, just barely edging out fraternity legend Timothy Green , who was also clocked at 28:59.5.

Gies Business student and full-time IXC treasurer Alex Kogen ran solid with a 29:03.5, with a rabid pack of other IXC boys right on his heels. Sophomore Robbie Sieczkowski was next in 29:15.6, followed closely by new freshmen Ian Repking and Garrett Minich . They both ran awesome with times of 29:16.5 and 29:17.9, respectively. Sophomore Lucas Carillo was weighed down by his gat, (and an illness), but still ran a PR of 29:24.3 while “surrounded by killers”. Hinsdale Central enthusiast Nathan Saltzman tracked him closely with a very respectable time of 29:31.5. Senior Matt Dickinson is just getting back into the swing of training, but put up a very promising time of 30:10.6. He’s gonna drop some big time off of that.

In his first 8K, Grad student and former teacher Wassim Elhouar continues to put children in their place with a great run of 30:26. Senior Sean Frintner also ran 30:26.4 despite not being able to train much, a sign of good things to come later in the season. Freshman Norb Nieves ran a great debut of 30:42.8, much faster than his Big Ten 10K time where he clapped Jarod Meyer’s cheeks. Another freshman, Justin Baysore , was next with a time of 31:57.2. Look for him to improve as well as he gets used to the 8K. Sophomore club legend John Feeley ran a time of 32:14.5, and is on pace to have an awesome second season. Freshmen Tristan Taylor , Isaac Schifferer , Marcus Herrington , Saif Kazmi , and Sahil Yemul all ran solid openers with times of 32:49.9, 32:58.1, 33:13.2, 33:20.3, and 34:07.9, respectively. All five of them are getting used to the jump from 3 miles to 8K, but will improve rapidly as the season goes on. Keep an eye on that Isaac kid too, sub 33 minutes is impressive for having never run before joining the club less than a month ago!

Aurora was a great start for IXC club’s competition record this year, with 22 women and 35 men finishing the races! Even better than that, everybody got to feast at Culver’s after the race. Congratulations to all of the new people who finished. 6K’s and 8K’s are very difficult to get used to, especially moving up in distance from the 3 miles/5k’s everybody runs in high school. Even though the Aurora course is one of the fastest ones we race on, a tidal wave of PRs can be expected from the new runners as they train consistently and get used to the patent-pending IXC racing strategy.

Till next time! Stay tuned for another action write-up when the men and women of IXC take on the competition at the Brissman-Lundeen invitational in Rock Island, Illinois on October 4th. Rock Island is also the homeplace of the hit underground single “A Nite in Rock Island” by famous rapper Chief Big. The song is the highpoint of his 2010 album “Town Business”, which has run rampant on the spotify charts the past few years.

With the start of the new semester brings about the start of a brand new season for the men and women of IXC! The gun goes off this Friday at our first meet of the season at the Aurora XC meet, located in the scenic (and usually muddy) Oakhurst Forest Preserve. The Women will start us off with the 6K at 5:00 PM, followed by the Men’s 8K at 5:45.

My decrepit Senior heart is warmed to see so many new runners signed up for the first meet of the year, and it makes me look back on all the XC races I’ve had the privilege of running with this club the past 3 years. Although meets are a great way to showcase your fitness and claw for that always coveted PR, I am a firm believer that XC meets are the best way to bond and get to know your fellow teammates.

To all you new people on the club, the exec board and I hope your years on this team get to be spent with hours laughing in meet car rides, and countless burgers and shakes at Culver’s (or questionable spaghetti dinners at Fazoli’s). Whether you are ready to strut your stuff after a summer of running, or just getting back into the swing of things, hopefully this first meet of the year will be a fun way to test your fitness and get to know your teammates better.

Get hyped for Friday! And maybe offer up a little voodoo sacrifice so that we don’t have a car breaking down an hour away from the meet like last year. Actually, get a large group of people (20-30+) together and do a mass voodoo ritual because we really don’t want that to happen again.

A few of our runners participated in the last available meets of the year at North Central College. At the Dr. Keeler Invitational, Beau Barber ran sub 55 again in the 400m with a time of 54.94! John Kellum ran a PR in the open 800 with his performance of 1:57.74! Then at the Gregory Invitational, Evan Patel continued to drop time in the 1500m, capping his season with a run of 4:07.32!

Congrats to these athletes on their performances, and congrats to all athletes on a great season!

We look forward to seeing everyone next year! Have a great summer and good luck to those competing in cross country!

A few of our athletes took the opportunity to compete post-nationals at Illinois College last weekend.

In the men’s 100m, Michael Jang crossed the line in 11.22, just narrowly missing a new PR while beating both of his 100m performances from Oxford. John Brandenburg ran 11.43 for his best 100m time of the season! PJ Coleman finished in 13.87, setting a new PR by almost a second! Sure, it was a bit windy out there, but these guys ran awesome times among those aspiring DIII nats qualifying varsity chumps.

Becky Haight had strong performances of her own in the 100m. She ran 12.33 in the prelims and 12.47 in the finals! Desarae Echevarria came through in 13.20.

In the 200m, Andy Marszewski clocked in at 23.02. Michael Jang posted 23.20, with John Brandenburg behind in 23.33.

Becky Haight ran fast again in her 200 coming through in a time of 25.26.

Andy Marszewski led our 400m performances, running 50.71 for his second sub 51 performance this season! Justin Nebel came in next in 51.59. Then it was Beau Barber with his 54.64, a season best for him!

Running his first 800 was Alex Bienduga who ran a pretty impressive 2:09.05. I bet he could improve at least five seconds or so on that if he became more experienced in the event.

Malorie Moore was our lone female 800m runner. She crossed the line in 2:30.66 in her first 800 this season!

We had just one distance runner at Illinois College in Josh Feldman. This senior, who was All-American in the steeple a few weeks ago, won the 5000m with a time of 15:50!

Michael Jang also competed in the 110m hurdles, where he went 15.92 in the prelims and 16.23 in the finals, both of these times were under his previous best mark!

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Desarae Echevarria ran 16.50 in the prelims and 17.06 in the finals. Both of these runs were under her previous best!

Alton Barbehenn is a busy grad student who competed for the first time this season, although he has been to many practices over the months. He ran 1:01.02 in the 400m hurdles, which would’ve given him 16th place at NIRCA Nationals! PJ Coleman crossed the line in 1:14.44, a new PR of seven seconds!

Our men put together a 4x100m team of John Brandenburg, Michael Jang, Alex Bienduga, and Andy Marszewski. They ran 42.86, our fastest time in that event all season, and the second best time in our club’s history!

Taylor Millsap competed and won the pole vault with her mark of 3.43m (11’ 3”)!

Justin Nebel landed at 6.30m (20’ 8”) in the long jump.

Congrats to these athletes on their impressive marks and times!

As the end of the season approaches, we only have two more meets to which we will only be sending a few athletes. Both are at North Central College in Naperville, the first being May 9th and 10th.

Good luck with finals, everyone!