Illinois women’s cross-country wins Iowa Regional Preview
Audrey Blazek crossing the finish line during the women’s cross-coutry Illini Challenge. The challenge was held at the UI Arboretum on Friday, September 2, 2016.
October 2, 2016
Four Illinois women’s cross-country runners finished in the top-10 at Saturday’s Iowa Regional Preview, helping the team take first overall.
Junior Audrey Blazek, junior Denise Branch, senior Amanda Fox and senior Valerie Bobart placed third, fifth, eighth and ninth respectively.
For the third time this season, Blazek was the first to cross the finish line for the Illini. She completed the 6,000 meters in 21 minutes, 32 seconds.
“Blazek has been our most consistent performer of the past couple of years; she is someone that has improved over the year,” head coach Scott Jones said. “Her improvement is because of her dedication to the process. I’m very happy for Audrey and what she’s been achieving.
Alongside Blazek, Branch clocked in at 21:39, her best time of the season.
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“She’s growing in fitness and in confidence,” Jones said. “Those two characteristics are essential to have success. It’s also something that feeds back on itself for her to race going forward.”
Although she has not been the top runner in the past few meets, Amanda Fox turned in a performance of 21:48.
“Fox really set the tone for us,” Jones said. “She really pulled her teammates along.”
Bobart clocked in at 21:50.
Jones said he was proud of his team’s performance but is looking for a more consistent, aggressive approach to these races.
“We’re really focusing right now on the process of training and preparing ourselves for the competition,” Jones said. “We’re focused on the process of executing and competing during the competition.”
