Full Results
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Illinois men's cross country sophomore Jon Davis placed 49th at NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park. Northern Arizona won the men's team race with 74 points, while Syracuse's Justyn Knight won the individual title with a time of 29:00.11.
After falling back to 59th entering the final 2,000 meters, Davis made a final kick to pass 10 runners to move back into the top-50 at the finish line. The 49th-place finish marks a 31-spot improvement over his finish at last year's national meet when he placed 80th overall, second on the team.
"His initial thoughts were that he probably got out a little too hard," explained head coach Jake Stewart. "I think whatever challenges came with that he handled it as best he could in terms of maintaining a place that was where he wanted. In the last 2K he picked off 10 guys. It wasn't his best day; he said himself he didn't feel 100-percent. He could have easily gone backwards and let the race get the best of him, but he battled and finished in the top-50 at the national meet."
Davis got out early in a fast-paced opening 2,000 meters, sitting in 18th at the 2,000-meter mark. Davis remained in the top-30 as the race reached the midway point, but fell outside the top-40 as the race approached the three-quarter mark.
Just in his second season at Illinois, Davis has made two straight cross country national meets and won the 2017 Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year after his regional title a week ago at Iowa State.
"He's just got to take the next step just like he did last year coming off of this race," Stewart said of Davis' progression. "He's got two national meets of experience under his belt with two differently run races. He's got to mature, get stronger, take his training to the next natural progression and come back in 12 months and improve the result."
Davis and Illini distance team now sets their sights on the indoor track and field season, which begins with the Illinois Open on January 13 inside the UI Armory. Davis was an All-American outdoors in the 5,000 meters, and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
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