CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini cross country starts postseason competition on Sunday at the Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ran at Mahoney Golf Course, the women's 6K race will begin at 10:45 a.m. CT, and the men's 8K will follow at 11:45 a.m.
Meet Information
Follow the Meet
Live scoring from the meet can be found at https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1470. Results can be accessed at http://pttiming.com/events/87931028. Fans can follow @IlliniTrackXC on Twitter and illinitrackxc on Instagram for updates during the meet.
Watch Tape Delay on Big Ten Network
The Big Ten Championships will air on tape delay on Big Ten Network on Monday October 29 at 7 p.m. CT. The meet will be aired on BTN Plus at 11:45 a.m. CT on Sunday shortly after the conclusion of the races.
Running for the illini
Men: Zach Dale, Logan Hall, Caleb Hummer, Jack LaLonde, Dan Lathrop, Billy Magnesen, Colin Yandel
Women: Nicki Cast, Rebecca Craddock, Caroline Fix, Mikaela Lucki, Madison Marasco, Allison McGrath, Emma Milburn, Grace Rogers, Katie Stapleton
Coach Haveman On B1G Championships
"We are looking forward to the Big Ten Championships. Our approach will remain consistent. We are looking to show growth among returners and gain valuable experience among the freshmen."
A Look At The Competition
The Big Ten currently features four schools ranked in the men's top-30 USTFCCCA National Rankings. No. 3 Wisconsin comes in as the highest ranked team, followed by No. 18 Purdue, No. 23 Indiana and No. 27 Michigan. Michigan State also received votes for the national poll. Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois rank fifth sixth and seventh, respectively in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. The women's field at Big Ten Championships includes five teams in the top-15 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings: No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Indiana, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 13 Penn State and No. 14 Michigan State. Representatives from the Midwest regionals along with No. 6 Illinois include No. 2 Minnesota, No. 5 Northwestern and No. 8 Iowa.
Illini Notes
Last Time Out
The Fighting Illini women's team ran to first place on their home course, the UI Arboretum, at the Illini Open. Each of team's top-five finishers placed in the top-25 overall. Junior Grace Rogers led the way for the Orange and Blue, placing ninth and clocking a career-best time of 18:47.3. Freshman Luke Goebel and redshirt sophomore Jack LaLonde ran for Illinois in the men's 8K. Goebel placed 35th with a career-best time of 26:43.3. LaLonde finished 42nd recording a time of 27:01.3. Senior Jesse Reiser raced unattached and won the 8K race, clocking a time of 24:48.6, over 11 seconds faster than second-place finisher Keelan Grant.
Marasco Making Her Mark
Freshman Madison Marasco has had an impressive start to her collegiate career, which has included top-10 overall finishes in each of her first three collegiate races. Additionally, Marasco has ran her way into school history. Marasco's seventh-place finish at Loyola with a time of 17:00.70 tied the eighth fastest 5K time in school history.
Seniors Lead Illini Men into B1G championships
Redshirt seniors Billy Magnesen and Dan Lathrop enter their final B1G Championships having posted top-finishes for the Illini during the regular season. Magnesen led the team at the Commodore Classic and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. The Hinsdale, Ill. native finished 19th overall in Nashville with a time of 25:36.7, and placed 82nd out of 224 participants at the Wisconsin Invite with a season-best finish of 24:21.2. Lathrop led the way in the team's third-place finish at the Bradley Pink Classic. He placed 11th overall and recorded a 24:44.5 finish.
Illini History at Big Ten Championships
The Illini men own three Big Ten team titles; the last coming in 1984, while the women have tallied four runner-up finishes in program history. Individually, the Illini have won the individual title nine times highlighted by Craig Virgin's record four titles from 1973-1976. Cassie Hunt owns the women's program's only individual title, winning it in 2005. Both squad's most recent top three finish came in 2015 when Dylan Lafond and Alyssa Schneider both placed third.
Illini In the Rankings
The Illinois women's team continues its climb up the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional rankings as the team moved to No. 6 following its third place finish at the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 12. The Illini men's team ranks No. 7 in the most recent edition (Oct. 15) of the regional rankings.
Illini begin first season under Haveman
Sarah Haveman takes over for Jake Stewart as the head coach for both the men's and women's teams. Haveman begins her second season overall with the Orange and Blue after serving as an assistant coach last season. In 2017 she guided graduate student Nicole Choquette to two Big Ten medals and an NCAA quarterfinal appearance. Haveman came to Illinois in 2017 after five years at Dayton, where she was promoted to Director of Track & Field and Cross Country in the spring of 2016. Nolan Fife has been promoted from volunteer assistant coach to assistant coach for the cross country teams.
Sophomore Strong
The Illini women's sophomore class features some of the team's top finishers from last season. Rebecca Craddock looks to build off a stellar freshman campaign in which she finished first for the Orange and Blue in every meet of the 2017 season. Craddock placed 40th at Midwest Regionals and 45th at Big Ten Championships. She set a new 5K career-best in each of her first three meets. Also returning from the sophomore class are Nicki Cast and Allison McGrath, who finished second and third on the team respectively at Big Ten Championships.
Men Return Familiar Faces
The Fighting Illini men's squad returns seven Letterwinners while only losing two from the 2017 season. Redshirt seniors Billy Magnesen and Zack Smith return for the Illini. Both seniors had historic performances at Midwest Regionals last season, turning in top-10 times in Illinois history in the 10K. Smith and Magnesen each finished the race with a time of 29:48.4, which tied them for the sixth best 10K time in school history. Redshirt seniors Dan Lathrop and Denis O'Callaghan also return to the Illini to add-on to the veteran makeup of the team. The Fighting Illini will look to return to NCAA Championships for the second time in three seasons after they qualified in 2016 for the first time since 1986.
Underclassmen Charge
Aside from returning junior leaders Vanessa Flaherty and Grace Rogers, the rest of the Illini women's roster is comprised of 17 underclassmen. Seven of those 17 are newcomers to the program, which includes Shaheeda Dade, Brooke Delahanty, Shanice Garbutt, Lauren Katz. Madison Marasco, Emma Milburn and Mikayla Olsen.
Up Next
Postseason competition continues as the Illini will return to Peoria, Ill. for the second time this season to run at the NCAA Midwest Regional on November 9. The women's 6K championship race will begin at 11 a.m. CT, and the men's 10K championship race will follow at Noon.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Cross Country, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniTrackXC) and Instagram (illinitrackxc) and like Fighting Illini Track and Field & Cross Country on Facebook.
