Dec. 20, 2011
When the 2011 men's cross country season began, the Illini squad had one goal in mind: to be all in and become a national qualifier as a team. With a senior class full of leaders and experience, the Illini took a great step toward achieving that goal. In Gavin Kennedy's first season as head coach, he led the veteran squad with hopes of finishing middle of the pack in the Big Ten Conference and move on to qualify for nationals.
"I thought the first season here at Illinois went well," Kennedy said. "I had high hopes for the team to go to the NCAA Championships, but I think after the performance at Big Ten's, getting two guys to the national meet was a step in the right direction. Hopefully it'll be the catalyst for the team to push through next year and go to the national championships on a regular basis."
The Orange and Blue saw the first two meets of the season as steps in the right direction after finishing first in the Illini Challenge and second in the Orange and Blue Preview. Illinois captured its seventh consecutive title by finishing first at the Illini Challenge, where seven of the top eight runners were clad in orange and blue. Senior Chris DeSilva took the individual title with a personal-best 6K time of 18:50. The Illini had three of their six runners finish in the top six at the Orange and Blue Preview with Dan Kremske leading the way with an 8K time of 24:25.
Illinois had the chance to preview many Big Ten teams at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. This was their toughest competition yet as the Illini finished with a solid mid-pack performance of 26th place. Junior Jordan Hebert led the squad with an 8K time of 24:31. Colin Mickow finished second for the Illini and helped round out the scoring. Mickow would end up finishing in the top three of every race he ran throughout the season.
At the Illini Open, the Orange and Blue were led by freshman Mark Donohue who made his collegiate 8K debut with a time of 25:49. In his first race of the season, Graham Farnsworth clocked a personal best 8K time of 26:12. Running unattached was a group of freshman with Tommy King (25:43) coming in second, David Eckhart (25:50) in fifth, Sam Telfer (25:54) in sixth, Paul Zeman (25:55) in seventh, Ian Barnett (26:17) in 11th and Joe McAsey (26:33) in 13th. Since the Illini ran only two attached runners, they were unable to record a team score.
Running three meets at home gave the Orange and Blue the chance to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, which were held on their home course at the UI Arboretum. The Illini were led at the conference championships by junior Jordan Hebert, who clocked a personal-best 8K time of 24:26. The Fighting Illini's seventh place finish gave them the motivation to perform well at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Senior Jim Riddle and junior Jordan Hebert became only the second pair of Illini to qualify for the NCAA Championship meet from the Midwest Regional. The first pair, Barry Pearman and Jason Zieren accomplished the feat in 1996. Riddle automatically qualified for the national meet by leading Illinois at the Midwest Regional and finishing 12th overall. Hebert joined Riddle by finished second for the Illini and 17th overall. Illinois last qualified an individual in 2007 when Trent Hoerr won the regional title.
Jim Riddle and Jordan Hebert closed out their season by finishing the 10K NCAA Championships 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 last year's regional race.
"Hebert was a nice surprise this season," Kennedy said. "After fighting through some sickness last year, he seemed to get stronger and stronger after each race and built up a lot of confidence this season. Riddle always stepped up to the plate and got the job done. After running limited amount of races this season, there wasn't a lot of time for him to settle in. He had to race hard from the start and he did just that."
The Orange and Blue had multiple runners step up throughout the season, with Chris DeSilva, Dan Kremske, Mark Donohue, Colin Mickow, Jordan Hebert and Tom Achtien all posting top-five finishes in multiple meets for the squad.
"Transition is always tough. You're dealing with a whole new training system with a new coach. I think the guys did a good job of dealing with the new process. The future is bright and they are only going to get better with the upcoming months we have together."
With the group of seniors graduating, the Illini are left with a young squad that hopes to improve upon what was accomplished this year. They will be led by Jordan Hebert and take what they learned throughout this season and make the 2012 Fighting Illini cross country team even stronger.
"I'm a strong believer in one good season leading to another season," Kennedy said. "I'm looking for the guys to step up to the plate during the track season and score points at the Big Ten Championships and put Illinois distance running on the map."
