With five true freshmen in the lineup throughout the, the Illini women's cross country team spent 2017 laying the ground work for future success in their first year under head coach Jake Stewart and assistant coach Sarah Haveman.
Following the announcement of the restructuring of the Illinois men's and women's cross country and track and field programs last November, coach Stewart and assistant coach Sarah Haveman took over the challenge of rebuilding the women's distance team.
With the graduation of five seniors from last year's lineup, coach Stewart and coach Haveman brought in nine freshmen to begin the rebuilding process in 2017. Of the nine freshmen, the Illini leaned heavily on five from the class as they became mainstays in the lineup.
With so many of the Illini lacking collegiate race experience, the leadership of seniors Nicole Choquette, Miranda Marry, Kristina Kladar and Denise Branch on and off the course became paramount with early season training and new race experiences.
On the course, Choquette and Marry were a regular part of Illinois' lineup, helping the middle of the Illini pack navigate the course while also reaching personal-best performances.
Running her first full collegiate cross country season in 2017, Choquette was Illinois' second or third runner for most of the season, helping guide the middle of the pack through the race while also making personal strides as well. The Urbana, Illinois native had personal-best performances at Eastern Illinois, Wisconsin and NCAA Regionals, placing second on the team in each of those meets.
Like Choquette, Marry ran her first full cross country season this year after being primarily a middle distance runner during the track season. The Illini senior posted personal-best times at Eastern Illinois to begin the season and again at the Midwest Regional meet.
The biggest bright spot among the freshmen came from Brunswick, Ohio product Rebecca Craddock who was Illinois' top runner in every race she contested, including personal-best times in four of those six races. Craddock got her first taste of postseason racing at Big Ten Championships where she placed 45th overall and then lowered her place to 40th two weeks later at the Midwest Regional where she ran her fastest 6,000 meters of the season, finishing in 21:07.5.
While the rest of the point-scoring positions on the team remained fluid throughout the season, freshmen Nicki Cast and Allison McGrath came on in the second half of the season to shrink the gap between Craddock and the second and third Illini. After Cast had placed no better than fourth on the team through the beginning of October, The Aurora, Illinois product came up big at Wisconsin and Big Ten Championships, finishing second on the team and setting a 6,000-meter personal-record at the conference meet at regionals. Like Cast, McGrath had her best two races at the end of the season, placing third and fourth on the team in the two postseason meets with personal-best times in both races.
Katie Stapleton and Kelli Callahan were the other two freshmen to consistently run for the Illini, each racing at Big Ten Championships. Stapleton would go on and run for the Illini at regionals as well where she lowered her 6,000-meter personal-record with a 22:59.8 time.
With each of the five Illini freshmen in the starting lineup back for their sophomore season with a full year of cross country and track and field under their belt, the Illini will also bring in 2018 signees Madison Marasco (Schaumburg, Ill.), Emma Milburn (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Shanice Garbutt (Danville, Ill.)
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini cross country, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniMXC and @IlliniWXC) and Instagram (@IlliniMXC and @IlliniWXC) and like Fighting Illini Men's Cross Country and Fighting Illini Women's Cross Country on Facebook.
