On Halloween, the Illini took on the rest of the conference at the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan. Both teams had disappointing 13th-place finishes.
Graduate students Nora Wollen and Joshua Daggett led the Illini. Wollen came across the finish line with a time of 21:03.6, good enough for 47th place. Junior Avril Andre placed second for the team in 21:45.1 (86th). Sophomore Kennedy Anderson followed with a time of 22:06.1 (107th).
Daggett finished in 50th place with a time of 24:25.5. Redshirt freshman Adam Patel and freshman Pol Molins finished next, with respective times of 24:38.6 (65th) and 25:17.5 (104th).
The men’s team had a consistent start to the race, with all six runners coming through the first 1,000 meters within ten seconds of each other. Three runners, Patel, Molins and redshirt freshman Trey Sato, all completed the first stretch in 2:52.
Daggett and Patel began to break away from the pack after the 2,000m mark, coming across 3,000m in 46th and 60th place respectively, with Molins a distant 109th.
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Every member of the men’s team had a faster split over their final 1,000 meters than their previous 1,000 meters. This last kick allowed the men’s team to gain ten points, shortening the gap between themselves and 12th-place Indiana.
The women’s team only managed to close the gap by one point, but with Hawkeyes finishing the race only 12 points off the Illini, the final kicked solidified their position.
Oregon won both the men’s and women’s races by a wide margin, the men’s team finishing with 36 points and the women’s with a Big Ten record of 18 points.
This is the Oregon women’s second Big Ten championship in a row. It’s the first time a men’s team has beaten Wisconsin since 2018.
The next race for Illinois is the Midwest Regionals in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Nov. 14. Those who perform well will qualify for NCAA nationals a week later. Last season, the Illini had one member qualify for nationals: Halle Hill.
Hill placed sixth, securing the last individual qualifying spot with a time of 19:55.74. With last year’s men’s and women’s winners, Oklahoma State hosting and several other strong teams competing, it’s unlikely that any Illinois athletes will make nationals.
