Some college teams redshirt their freshmen for a season, allowing the new athletes to get a feel for the sport at the collegiate level before being thrown into the heat of competition. For Illinois men’s cross-country head coach Wendel McRaven, there was no need to hold back his new class this fall.

“We had a large number of freshmen on the roster, and they all adjusted to the team really well,” McRaven said. “Due to a lot of injuries this season, they really had to step up to the plate.”

Of the 20-man team, 12 of the runners were freshmen. Of those 12, Nathan Troester, Kyle Engnell, Colin Mickow and Hunter Mickow stood out above the rest.

Throughout the season these freshmen competed and placed in national events. In the NCAA Regional Championships, Troester and Hunter Mickow led the way for the Illini, finishing 33rd and 35th, respectively. They were 14 and 15 seconds off being named to the All-Regional team and were the third and fourth-fastest freshmen competing.

“I was really not expecting so much success from the freshmen and the Mickow twins specifically. They were not huge recruits, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much they improved over the season,” McRaven said.

But it was not all success for the team. At the Big Ten Championships, the climax of the season, the Illini finished ninth.

The meet proved how the freshmen were still adjusting to competing at the collegiate level.

“Running in college is a lot different than in high school because the competition is so much stronger,” Troester said. “There are no easy meets and no weak competitors.”

The young team looked up to junior Jeremy Stevens for advice during the season. Stevens led the Illini in several of their meets and early in the season was named Big Ten Runner of the Week.

“I tried to be an example for the team by always running my hardest and showing them how to take training to the course,” Stevens said.

Because of its lack of experience, Illinois did not do as well as it hoped this season. With no seniors on the squad, the entire team will return next year.

“This was not the season that we anticipated, but we learned to deal with some diversity this season,” Troester said. “We worked hard on taking our training to the course and are ready for next year.”