With four nationally ranked teams in the 13-team field at the Wisconsin Inter-Regional, the Illinois men’s cross country team would need top-notch performances from its runners to win a top place. With five Illini finishing the 8K race with personal bests, the Orange and Blue did just that.
Illinois finished sixth overall as a team Saturday in Madison, Wis., in what head coach Wendel McRaven called “the team’s first real test of the season.
“This was the fastest race we have seen all season,” McRaven said. “With so many good teams at the meet, our expectations were to finish in the top half of the race and compete with the quality runners.”
Syracuse took the title with 41 points, and three of the other four that finished above the Illini were ranked — No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 10 Georgetown and No. 17 Arkansas. However, Illinois, which finished with 192 points, defeated No. 23 Michigan.
McRaven was also proud of beating Texas A&M; and Lamar. The Illini were only 16 points behind Iowa, the fourth Big Ten team that ran.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“It was a solid race overall,” McRaven said. “Assuming we keep improving, we feel good about where we are at this point in the season.”
Sophomore Colin Mickow led the way for the Orange and Blue with a 24th-place finish, and he was followed by fellow sophomores Jim Riddle, Nathan Troester, Chris DeSilva and redshirt sophomore Dan Kremske.
The Illini raced similar to how they did in their first two meets, with a strong start, a “lackadaisical” middle of the race and a strong kick to end the race, McRaven said. This is a trend McRaven said must end.
“No matter how hard you train, the first real race of the season can be a shock to the system, and I was proud of our performance, but as the season progresses our team has to stay focused during the middle of the race,” McRaven said. “8K races are tough, and our young team is not yet used to how they work, but I know when it counts we will have quality races all of the way through.”
Next up for the Illini is the Bradley Classic on Oct. 16 and the Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 17.
“The Pre-Nationals meet will be the best regular-season meet in the country,” McRaven said. “We now know what our team looks like when we line up our best runners and let them loose. Now, we will see how they handle the best competition. We walked away from Madison with some confidence that we belong with an elite level in the country. We got some work to do but I know our guys can handle it.”
