October 21, 2010 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 21, 2010
Meet Preview
The Orange and Blue are set to host the Illini Open on Friday, Oct. 22 at the UI Arboretum in Urbana, Ill. The 8K race will begin at 4:45 pm, immediately following the women's 5K race at 4 p.m. The Illini have taken the team title the past two years at the meet, but will only be running four individuals this year, meaning they will be unable to record a team score.
Last year at the Illini Open, Illinois captured both the team and individual titles, and five of the six top finishers were Illini. The Orange and Blue finished with a team total of 16 points, led by Nathan Bohne who took the individual crown with a time of 26:07.
Jared Richardson followed Bohne, taking second in 26:09. Eric Johannigmeier came in third in 26:11, and Jordan Hebert finished fourth in 26:14. Rounding out the Illini scoring was Phil Pompei, who finished sixth in 26:31. Kyle Engnell also competed, placing 12th overall in 27:39.
Coach McRaven on the Meet
"The meet is really an opportunity for some of our guys who are on the bubble to make the Big Ten roster. It's a last tune-up for the Big Ten Championships. We are using it for a couple guys to see if they can impress me enough to earn a spot on the Big Ten roster, and for a couple guys it's going to be a chance to get the last race in for the season. The ideal situation is that we have a couple guys step up and make my life really difficult because then I have to decide who makes the Big Ten team."
Illini Set to Run
Junior Chris DeSilva, who last competed in the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, is set to compete, along with sophomore Hunter Mickow, who made his season debut last weekend at the Bradley Classic. Mickow finished third for the Illini in 25:13 and placed 41st overall. Senior Mike Murray, who clocked a personal -best 8K time of 25:22 at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Oct. 2 will be competing Friday, and rounding out the Illini lineup is redshirt freshman Drew Bell.
Freshmen Mark Donohue, Manu Kumar, and Jordan Lagomarcino, who all ran unattached at the Illini Challenge and Illinois Intercollegiate meets, will run unattached at the Illini Open.
A Look at the Competition
The Illini, who are ranked fifth in the Midwest Region in the latest USTFCCCA poll, will compete in a field of eight squads, including Bradley, Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan, Indianapolis, Lewis, McKendree and Northern Kentucky.
Last Time Out
The Fighting Illini men's cross country team split up last weekend to compete in a pair of meets, sending six runners to the Bradley Classic and the top six Illinois competitors to Pre-Nationals.
Bradley Classic
The Illinois `B' team finished fourth overall at the Bradley Classic on Oct. 15, paced by a 56 second personal best 8K time of 24:28 by sophomore Jordan Hebert. Hebert finished ninth overall, followed by junior Kyle Engnell, who clocked a personal-best 8K time of 24:38 and came in 12th overall. Sophomore Hunter Mickow made his season debut, finishing third for Illinois and 41st overall in 25:13.
Rounding out Illini scoring was sophomore Tom Achtien and senior Mike Murray, who finished 51st (25:25) and 60th (25:34), respectively. Freshman Drew Bell also competed for the Orange and Blue, finishing with a time of 26:31.
Pre-Nationals
The Orange and Blue placed 15th in the Blue Race at Pre-Nationals in a field of 35 competing squads on October 16. All six Illini competitors were juniors, with Dan Kremske leading the main squad for the second-straight race. The Woodstock, Ill., native placed 62nd overall in 24:33, nearly 50 spots higher than his finish (111th) from a year ago. Colin Mickow followed, finishing 73rd with a time of 24:39, while Nathan Troester came in 92nd overall, clocking an 8K time of 24:52.
Jim Riddle (24:56) and Phil Pompei (25:00) rounded out Illini scoring, finishing 102nd and 112th, respectively. Also competing for Illinois was Nathan Bohne, who finished 118th in 25:03.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini will return to Madison, Wis. for the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, Oct. 31.
