Oct. 2, 2010
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MADISON, Wis. - The Fighting Illini men's cross country team placed 10th at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in a field of 21 competing squads on Saturday. The Orange and Blue, who faced their toughest competition of the season, finished ahead of three Big Ten squads and were led by junior Dan Kremske for the first time in his career.
"Dan had a nice breakthrough," cross country coach Wendel McRaven said. "He did a nice job of sticking with the lead pack early on and had a really good race. There were some solid runs individually but we didn't quite put it together as a team. It was a solid effort, and it prepares us really well for Pre-Nationals."
Kremske placed 22nd and clocked a personal-best 8K time of 24:02, which is 37 seconds faster than his previous best. Following Kremske was junior Colin Mickow (24:26), who came in 50th, and matched his personal best time from two weeks ago, which earned him Big Ten Runner of the Week honors. The Princeton, Ill., native had led the Illini at the previous eight races he ran dating back to last season.
"Colin had a bit of a rough day," McRaven said. "He had a side stitch in the race and his legs were pretty dead."
Senior Jeremy Stevens (24:33) placed 58th in his season debut and came in just two seconds behind his previous personal best from 2007. Rounding out the Illini scoring were juniors Jim Riddle (24:42) in 73rd and Phil Pompei (24:44) in 77th, who both set personal best marks.
"It was nice to have Stevens perform well today," McRaven said. "He will keep getting better and better as he keeps racing."
Donn Cabral from Princeton took the individual title with a time of 23:29. The team title went to Indiana, who had a total of 43 points.
The Illini will have a week off before heading to the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 16.
ILLINOIS RESULTS
22. Dan Kremske 24:02
50. Colin Mickow 24:26
58. Jeremy Stevens 24:33
73. Jim Riddle 24:42
77. Phil Pompei 24:44
87. Nathan Bohne 24:50
91. Nathan Troester 24:51.8
91. Kyle Engnell 24:52.3
104. Chris DeSilva 25:11
111. Mike Murray 25:22
117. Jordan Hebert 25:29
TEAM RESULTS
1. Indiana 43
2. Wisconsin 75
3. Princeton 112
4. Syracuse 131
5. Oklahoma 132
6. Michigan State 191
7. Florida 217
8. North Carolina 225
9. Ohio State 256
10. ILLINOIS 280
11. Purdue 308
12. Air Force 319
13. Providence 335
14. Iowa 361
15. Nebraska 400
16. Kansas 405
17. Texas A&M 426
18. Marquette 441
19. North Dakota State 597
20. Michigan 622
21. IPFW 714
