Full Results
IOWA CITY, Iowa –Fighting Illini men's cross country placed third this afternoon at the NCAA Midwest Regional at Ashton Cross Country Course. The third-place finish bested No. 13 Iowa State and marks the program's best regional finish since 2002. The Illini will now wait to see if they earn an at-large bid to NCAA Championships, held November 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana.
"We put ourselves in a position early on to execute a race plan that we thought would give us the best chance to have the day we wanted to have," said Head Coach Jake Stewart. "The guys believed in it, and they did it. We competed hard, we didn't settle, we were constantly trying to pass guys. It came down to seven points between third and fourth [place] and we probably got those seven points in the last 200 meters."
Lafond earned his second straight All-Region finish, as the Manchester, New Hampshire, native timed 30:27.1 in the 10,000m race to place fifth. After pacing himself in the first 3,000m, Lafond moved up 19 spots between the 3,500m mark and 4,000m mark to move towards the front of the race. In the final 6,000m, Lafond steadily moved through the front of the pack, moving into the top-10 with just under 2,000 meters to go. Lafond's fifth-place finish improves upon his eighth-place finish at last year's regional meet in Lawrence, Kansas and qualifies him individually for NCAA Championships.
"He was very controlled early on, moved his way through the race and executed it. He finished better today than he did last year, and that says a lot about the ups and downs he's experienced this year. He didn't let that affect how he needed to run at Big Ten [Championships] and today."
Freshman Jonathan Davis joined Lafond in the top-20 of the race, as Davis finished 17th overall with a 10K time of 30:44.9. Davis came out of the gate strong and held that pace throughout, never falling outside of the top 20 runners. After moving into the top-10 at the 4,000m mark, Davis asserted himself in the next 1,000m to move into first at the race's midway point before finishing 17th overall.
"He showed great composure and belief in his abilities," said Stewart. "He didn't let anything rattle him, and he just ran the race. Jon is a great runner and he showed that today."
Similarly to Lafond, sophomore Jesse Reiser (25th/30:52.4) and redshirt sophomore Dan Lathrop (28th/30:56.2) steadily moved up through the race to place among the top-30. Lathrop made his biggest push of the afternoon in the second kilometer, passing 21 runners to move into the top-35. Sitting outside the top-50 up until the 4,000m mark, Reiser pushed into the top-30 at the race's midway mark, and then reached as high as 16th with less than 2,000 meters to go before finishing four seconds ahead of Lathrop. For Lathrop, the time marked a 25-second improvement over his time at last year's Midwest regional.
Redshirt freshman Zach Dale was also among the five Illini scorers, finishing 40th overall in his first 10,000m race. Dale steadily moved his way through the middle of the pack, holding a five-minute mile pace, to move into the top-50 at 5,000m and ultimately finish 40th with a time of 31:08.3.
Sean Pengelly (58th/31:30.0) and Zack Smith (72nd/31:42.9) rounded out the seven runners for Coach Stewart's squad.
Next up, the Illini hope to receive an at-large bid to NCAA Championships next week in Terre Haute, Indiana, something the program has not seen in 30 years. Of the 31 teams that qualify for NCAA Championships, 18 are given to the top-two teams at each regional. The remaining 13 spots are filled in an at-large selection process that will be officially announced tomorrow. With his fifth-place finish, Lafond clinched his second-straight trip to NCAA Championships, receiving one of the individual at-large bids from the Midwest Regional.
Individual Results
5. Dylan Lafond 30:27.1
17. Jonathan Davis 30:44.9
25. Jesse Reiser 30:52.4
28. Dan Lathrop 30:56.2
40. Zach Dale 31:08.3
58. Sean Pengelly 31:30.0
72. Zack Smith 31:42.9
Team Scores:
1.Oklahoma State – 64
2.Tulsa – 89
3.Illinois – 113
4.Iowa State – 120
5.Bradley – 135
