Peoria Results

Adidas Results

PEORIA, ILL. – The Fighting Illini harriers wrapped up their two-meet day by bringing home the team title at the Bradley "Pink" Classic, winning the meet by 37 points over second-place Nebraska. The Orange and Blue scored three top-10 finishes on their way to victory. Earlier, the Orange and Blue competed at the Adidas Invite in Madison, Wisconsin where Dylan Lafond moved into sixth-place on Illinois' all-time 8K list as the Illini placed 20^th as a team.

In Peoria, Dan Lathrop led the way with a time of 24:14.6, finishing fourth overall. Paul Zeman and Alex Gold were right behind Lathrop, as they came through the chute sixth and eighth, respectively.

Garrett Lee (16^th) and Jereme Atchison (36^th) were the next two to cross, while Jack Driggs completed the group, finishing 84^th overall.

Earlier in the day, Lafond led the Illini at the Adidas Invite, finishing with the sixth-best time in school history (23:53.8). Although the team had higher aspirations than their 20^th overall finish, Coach Jake Stewart remains confident that the group is still on track for success as postseason competition nears.

"We didn't run as well as we would have liked to, and that happens," said Coach Stewart. We didn't run as well as we did two weeks ago, and that happens. We don't need to press, we don't need to panic; there's nothing more that we need to do other than just preparing for our next performance. I thought we did a very good job of positioning ourselves through the first half of the race, but we needed to do a better job of closing it out in the last half of the race."

Ian Barnett (93^rd) and Zack Smith (99^th) joined Dylan Lafond with top-100 finishes, completing the race in 24:25.4 and 24:27.2, respectively.

"I thought Zack Smith bounced back really well from his performance last week at Louisville," said Stewart. "He really ran a complete race, moved nicely over the course of the last 2,000-3,000 meters, and ran more like he's prepared to do than maybe where he was at two weeks ago in Louisville."

Freshman Jesse Reiser was the fourth Illini to cross the finish line today, sporting a time of 24:32.3 and finishing 118^th overall.

"I thought Jesse Resier took a nice step forward. He got to the 5K position in the race [in a spot] that he's never been before, in terms of time and effort. He got to the end of the race, really closed well, and ran some guys down. And, [he] made some gaps tough on some of the guys who had beaten him earlier in the year, so that's a nice progression for him."

Liam Markham (24:48.6) and Sean Pengelly (24:57.0) rounded out the six Illini in the meet, finishing 160^th and 174^th overall.  

The Fighting Illini will return home next Friday for the Illini Open. The meet at the UI Arboretum begins at 4:40pm.

Adidas Invite Team Scores (out of 36):

Syracuse – 101
BYU – 186
Michigan – 218
ILLINOIS – 492

Adidas Individual Scores:

22. Dylan Lafond, 23:53.8

93. Ian Barnett, 24:25.4

99. Zack Smith, 24:27.2

118. Jesse Reiser, 24:32.3

160. Liam Markham, 24:48.6

174. Sean Pengelly, 24:57.0

Billy Magnesen – DNF

Bradley "Pink" Classic Team Scores (out of 26):

1. ILLINOIS – 70
2. Nebraska – 107
3. Iowa – 112

Bradley Individual Score:

4. Dan Lathrop, 24:14.6

6. Paul Zeman, 24:16.4

8. Alex Gold, 24:17.4

16. Garrett Lee, 24:29.4

36. Jereme Atchison, 24:54.8

84. Jack Driggs, 25:25.5