CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois cross country continues postseason competition at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Peoria, Ill. on Friday, November 9. The races will be held at Newman Golf Course, where the Illini men and women competed earlier this season for the Bradley Pink Classic. The women's 6K championship race will start at 11 a.m. CT, and the men's championship 10K race will follow at 12 p.m. CT.
Meet Information
Follow the Meet
Admission to the meet is free to the public at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. Live results from the meet can be found at https://results.flotrack.org/XC-PTT.html?mid=1499. Results will also be posted on fightingillini.com soon after the meet's conclusion. Fans can follow @IlliniTrackXC on Twitter and illinitrackxc on Instagram for updates during the meet.
National Qualifying Process
A total of 31 teams will qualify for next weekend's NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. Automatic qualification will be given to the top two teams at each of the nine regionals. The remaining 13 slots will be filled in an at-large selection process. Individually, 38 additional athletes will be added to the NCAA Championships field and the top four runners at each regional not on a qualifying team will be automatically selected.
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, Katie Stapleton.
Coach Haveman On the Midwest Regional
"The teams are excited for another opportunity. We have been very pleased with how they have handled the last two weeks and how they have prepared themselves for a solid performance at regionals."
Know the course
The Newman Golf Course is a USTFCCCA certified course and has hosted the Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Midwest Regional Championships. The men's 10K course consists of the initial 2,000m loop, followed by the inner 2000m loop repeated four times before heading into the finish straightaway. The women's 6K course consists of the initial 2,000m loop, followed by the inner 2000m loop repeated twice before heading into the finish straightaway. The first 2,000m loop is run once and is mostly flat. The second 2,000m loop consists of rolling hills. The course is extremely spectator friendly.
A Look At The Competition
On the men's side, the top two teams from the Midwest Region enter the competition also ranked nationally, with Iowa State holding the No.6 rank in the country and Oklahoma State sitting at No. 23. The men will also be met by Big Ten foes Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska at the regional. The women compete against nationally ranked Iowa State (17) and Minnesota (21) at the Midwest Regional Championships. Along with Minnesota, Big Ten opponents Northwestern and Iowa will compete against the Illini women in Peoria.
Illini Notes
Last Time Out
The Illinois women and men raced at Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska on October 28. The women finished 12th and were led by sophomores Rebecca Craddock (21:18.9 finish) and Allison McGrath (21:22.4 finish), who each placed in the top-50 by finishing 43rd and 44th, respectively in the 6K race. In the men's 8K the Illini finished 10th and were led by Zach Dale, who finished 57th overall with a time of 25:02.5. Freshman Logan Hall was the second Illini to cross the finish in his postseason debut, finishing 63rd with a time of 25:07.5.
Illini HIstory at NCAA Regionals
Last season, Jon Davis became the second Illini runner in program history to win an individual regional title, and the first since Craig Virgin in 1976. He clocked the second fastest 10K in school history with a 29:02.6 finish. Jesse Reiser also earned All-Region honors, placing 12th with a time of 29:20.9. The men finished fourth in 2017 at the Iowa State Midwest Regional. On the women's side, the Orange and Blue have twice had an individual champion -- Cassie Hunt winning it in 2004 and Angela Bizzarri taking first in 2009 on her way to a national title.
Magnesen, LaLonde look for More regional Success
Redshirt senior Billy Magnesen and redshirt sophomore Jack LaLonde are coming off record setting performances at last year's Midwest Regional at Iowa State. Both runners, along with Davis, Reiser and Zack Smith, ran their way into the top-10 times for a 10K in program history. Magnesen finished 28th and clocked a time of 29:48.4 which is the seventh fastest 10K time in program history. LaLonde was not far behind placing 30th with a time of 29:49.6, good for the eighth fastest 10K in Illinois history.
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.
Illini In the Rankings
The Illinois women's team climbed its way up the rankings throughout the regular season, and enters the postseason ranked No. 6 in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings. The Illini men's team finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the most reacet 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
NCAA Championships is next for Illinois teams and individuals that qualify. Nationals will be held on Saturday November 17 at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis.
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.
