Nov. 21, 2011
2011 NCAA Individual Results
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Senior Jim Riddle and junior Jordan Hebert closed out their season by finishing the 10K NCAA Championship race 126th and 140th, respectively. Riddle crossed the finish line with a time of 31.00.3 while Hebert finished seven seconds behind, with a season-best 10K time of 31:07.7. Hebert's performance was just seven seconds away from his personal best set at least year's regional race. This marked the second time in program history, Illinois sent two individual runners to the national meet.
"Today both guys put themselves out there and they ran how I asked them to run," said head coach Gavin Kennedy. "I think this will stand for Hebert coming back next year. This experience alone should get them excited for the indoor and outdoor track season. I told them to get out and run close to each other and they did that today. This was absolutely the highlight of the season, but this is only scratching the surface of where I want to go with the cross country program and what these guys want to do moving forward."
Riddle led the Illini at the NCAA Midwest Regional and finished 12th overall, with a time of 31:34.79, which automatically qualified him for the national meet. The Naperville, Ill., native also took second for Illinois and 30th overall at the Big Ten Championships with a season-best 8K time of 24:32. In addition, Riddle placed second for the Illini and 82nd overall at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, completing the course with a time of 24:43.
"Jim is a leader on this team," said Kennedy. "He did a great job of continuing to do what he has done all year. This cross country season and especially the race today lays the foundation for him, as we come into the indoor and outdoor track season."
Hebert placed second for the Illini at the NCAA Midwest Regional and 17th overall, with a 10K time of 31:40.64, earning an at-large bid to the national championship race. He also led the team twice this season, the most recent coming at the Big Ten Championships. The Elmhurst, Ill., native took 22nd overall with a personal-best 8K time of 24:26. Hebert also led the Illini at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and finished second for the Orange and Blue at the Illini Challenge.
In the championship field of 252 runners, Lawi Lalang of Arizona finished first while Wisconsin took the team title with 97 points.
