Champaign, Ill. – Prior to the season, the Fighting Illini men's cross-country program had not finished in the top two at Big Ten Championships in a quarter century. In his fourth season, Head Coach Jake Stewart used a combination of veterans and new blood to lead the program to its best Big Ten finish since 1989. The postseason was highlighted by Jesse Reiser's unanimous selection as Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Dylan Lafond earning All-America status with a 29th place finish at NCAA Championships in Louisville, Kentucky.
The annual Illini Challenge on September 4 kicked off the 2015 campaign, a meet that Illini dominated, beating border rival Missouri and sweeping the top eight spots on the podium. Senior Jereme Atchison eclipsed his teammates to earn the individual crown, with Zack Smith and Dan Lathrop finishing four-tenths of a second behind Atchison.
Lexington, Kentucky was the site of the first road meet for the Illini as they placed third at the Bluegrass Invite. Michigan Tech transfer Sean Pengelly led the group of seven with a fifth place finish, less than two seconds before Zack Smith who placed sixth.
A week later, Sean Pengelly was the first Illini through the chute for the second week in a row at the Spartan Invite. Paul Zeman made his season debut, placing 12th, while freshman Jesse Reiser made his Illini debut with a 14th place finish.
To wrap up the month of September, Jake Stewart's squad competed back in the state of Illinois at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational and winning the team title by 49 points. Running for the first time on the season, senior Ian Barnet placed second overall and was one of three Illini to finish in the top-five.
In their biggest meet prior to Big Ten Championships, the Orange and Blue showed that they were ready to take a step forward from previous seasons with a seven-place improvement over the 2014 finish at the Greater Louisville Classic. Dylan Lafond led the way in his Fighting Illini cross-country debut, placing sixth overall and cracking the school's all-time top-10 list with a time of 23:59.55.
In their final big meet of the regular season, the squad split up between the Adidas Invite and the Bradley Classic. In Madison, Lafond finished with a time of 23:53.8, moving him into sixth on the school's top-10 list. Later in the day, Dan Lathrop was the first to cross as three Illini finished in the top-10 at Bradley in route to winning the meet by 37 points over second place Nebraska.
On October 23, the Illini completed the regular season as senior Jereme Atchison ended his cross-country career with his second individual title of the season, winning the Illini Open with a time of 25:23.1.
The Orange and Blue shined brightest in Chicago the following weekend at Big Ten Championships where they placed second overall and Dylan Lafond broke the 8K school record with his third-place finish. Jesse Reiser earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors with his 11th place finish, besting every other freshman in the field. Top-20 performances by Ian Barnett (18th/23:58.0) and Dan Lathrop (20th/24:01.4), accompanied by Liam Markham (29th/24:12.0), Billy Magnesen (30th/24:13.0) and Zack Smith (45th/24:33.7) netted the best point score (81) for the program since 1986.
NCAA Regionals in Lawrence, Kansas ended the team portion of the season for the Illini when the Orange and Blue fell short of a top-two finish, placing eighth as a team. Junior Dylan Lafond earned an at-large bid to NCAA Championships with an eight-place finish with a 10K time of 30:08.4
A week later, Dylan Lafond concluded his record-breaking season by earning All-America honors with a 29th place finish, clocking in at 30:18.2.
After arguably the best cross-country season the program has had in 25 years, the Illini will return five of the seven Big Ten point scorers in 2016, including All-American Dylan Lafond and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jesse Reiser.
