Illinois women’s cross-country to begin season this weekend without Schneider
Jovanie De La Cruz | The Daily I
V. Bobart(252), A. Blazek(251), and B. Petrey(257) getting into zone at the Illini Challenge 2015 at the Arboretum on September 4.
August 31, 2016
Alyssa Schneider completed her Illinois cross-country career with a time of 20 minutes and 12 seconds at the NCAA Championships last season.
Schneider qualified for two NCAA Championships during her time at Illinois. The Bartlett native improved on her 93rd-place performance in 2013, when she turned in a 17th-place finish last year.
The team will now have to find other runners to fill the void Schneider leaves behind. Britten Petrey, who was often a team top-five finisher, also graduated last year. She claimed her first collegiate individual win at last year’s Illini Open.
Head coach Scott Jones will welcome seniors Valerie Bobart, Audrey Blazek, Megan Lemersal, Kim Seger and Hanna Winter back for their final seasons, which starts Friday at the University of Illinois Arboretum to compete in the Illini Challenge.
Northwestern and Northern Illinois will compete against Illinois this year.
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Northern Illinois’ top runner, Kelsey Hildreth, returns to competition for her junior year. Hildreth was the second overall finisher in last year’s Illini Challenge, finishing with a time of 17:48.
Northwestern finished 12th at the Big Ten Championships and had one runner in the top 50 of the race — Elena Barham. The Wildcats also welcome four freshmen to their team this year.
Illinois won the Illini Challenge last year with a score of 33.
Northern Illinois and Missouri followed with scores of 45 and 46, respectively.
The flat, home course helped Schneider win the meet with a time of 17:43. Petrey, Blazek, Denise Branch, Bobart, Seger, Lemersal and Ellie Palacios finished after Illinois’ top runner, respectively.
Illinois had third-place finishes in the Illini Open and the Country Financial ISU Challenge.
The team will once again race the ISU Challenge and Illini Open race this year, hoping to match or improve on their individual and team finishes from last season.
The team faltered at the pre-nationals race last year in Louisville, Kentucky, finishing in 43rd place out of 45 teams.
The Illini finished in eighth place at the Big Ten Championships and 10th place at the NCAA Regional Championships.
This season’s schedule includes a new race in Iowa City to compete in the Iowa Regional Preview on Oct. 1. The team will also travel to Peoria, Illinois, to participate in the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 14.
This year’s Big Ten Championships will take place in Minneapolis, and the Regional Championships will be in Iowa City, Iowa.
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