Oct. 4, 2013

Individual Results | Team Results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --The Illinois men's cross country team finished in 12th place at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. The five mile race was held in South Bend, Ind. and featured ten nationally ranked teams among the 27-team field. Individually, senior Jannis Toepfer led the Illini, finishing sixth overall with a time of 24:36.

Following Toepfer was sophomore Liam Markham (24:55) who finished 26th overall, while junior Brendan McDonnell finished third for the squad and 95th overall with a time of 25:45.

"I was very pleased with the way that Jannis and Liam ran today," said head coach Jake Stewart. "I was also pleased with the way Brendan performed in his first race at that magnitude. Six weeks ago he was on the club team. It wasn't our best day, and we have some things we have to get better at, but I don't think it's indicative of where we are as a team."

Redshirt freshman Will Brewster followed closely behind McDonnell, crossing the finishing line with a time of 25:47, while redshirt sophomores Tommy King and Paul Zeman clocked a 25:51 to finish fifth and sixth for the Illini. Sam Telfer finished with a time of 26:20, while Ian Barnett was unable to finish the race after being tripped up at the 2.25 mile mark.

"We had a bit of bad luck," said Stewart. "About 2.25 miles into the race Ian fell going around a turn and didn't finish. At that point he was in the top-15, so he was doing what he needed to do. That's just the way things go. We have to deal with it and move forward. I still think we are a very good team. There's improvement we need to make that we are certainly capable of making"

No. 30 Columbia placed first at the meet with 113 points, while UTEP's Anthony Rotich won the individual title with a time of 24:18.

ILLINOIS RESULTS
6. Jannis Toepfer, 24:36
26. Liam Markham, 24:55
95. Brendan McDonnell, 25:45
100. Will Brewster, 25:47
106. Tommy King, 25:51
107. Paul Zeman, 25:51
148. Sam Telfer, 26:20

TEAM RESULTS
1. Columbia 113
2. Tulsa 124
3. Princeton 147
4. Minnesota 155
5. Colorado State 189
12. ILLINOIS 333