LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Five Illinois women's cross country runners set personal-best 5,000-meter performances on Saturday in the Greater Louisville Classic at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park. Freshman Rebecca Craddock led the way for the Illini with a time of 17:36.93.
"There were individuals who had special days, but we needed a little bit more from everybody today," said assistant coach Sarah Haveman following the meet.
With her time of 17:36.93, Craddock is now three-for-three this season in setting a personal-best time; shaving seconds off of her previous week's time each time out this season. After debuting at Eastern Illinois with a mark of 17:58.72, the true freshman took five seconds off that time last week in Boston (17:53) before erasing 17 more seconds on Saturday in Louisville.
"Rebecca is consistently growing and providing great leadership for us on the course," said coach Haveman. "We just need her to keep progressing and maturing in each race."
The remaining four Illinois point-scorers on Saturday came through the chute in a span of 11 seconds of one another, as graduate student Nicole Choquette, redshirt sophomore Morgan Schulz, freshman Allison McGrath and senior Miranda Marry rounded out the Illini top-five times.
Finishing number two for the Illini, Choquette ran her fastest 5,000-meter race as an Illini on Saturday. The Urbana, Illinois native took eight seconds off her opening-season personal best (18:28.89) to finish today's race in 18:20.99, 154th overall.
"Nicole is doing a great job. She just needs to keep taking it day by day, and allow herself to grow with the process and with each race. She's progressing really well and her leadership, on and off the course, helps us tremendously."
Schulz came through the finish line five seconds after Choquette, as she made her Illinois cross country debut with a time of 18:25.50.
"Morgan did a great job," Haveman said Schulz's debut. "A key part for Morgan's race that helped us today was that she pulled the women along through the middle of the race. That was very important through the pack, as the four of them all finished very close together."
Placing fourth and fifth on the team, McGrath and Marry finished within two seconds of each other, McGrath timing 18:29.22 while Marry finished the race in 18:31.53.
"Allison has been solid in each race and in all of our workouts and really brings a level of consistency to our team," explained Haveman.
Up next, the Illini will travel to Madison, Wisconsin following a week off to compete on Friday, October 13 at the Ed Nuttycombe Invite. The women's race begins at 11:40 a.m. central time and can be streamed through a subscription to FloTrack.
Illinois Individual Results (Complete Results):
61. Rebecca Craddock, 17:36.93
154. Nicole Choquette, 18:20.99
162. Morgan Schulz, 18:25.50
169. Allison McGrath, 18:29.22
174. Miranda Marry, 18:31.53
197. Nicki Cast, 18:46.30
227. Katie Stapleton, 19:05.23
252. Kelli Callahan, 19:22.58
260. Kristina Kladar, 19:32.34
268. Grace Rogers, 19:41.84
Team Scores:
1. Boise State – 74
2. Wisconsin – 101
3. Furman – 121
4. Minnesota – 123
5. Northern Arizona – 170
22. Illinois – 606
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.
