Women's Full Results
NASHVILLE - Fighting Illini women's cross country raced to second place out of 19 competing schools with a team score of 126 on Saturday at the Commodore Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt. The Illini were paced by freshman Madison Marasco, who finished 10th overall with a time of 17:46.8 in her collegiate debut.
"The women raced well and this is an exciting day for us," said head coach Sarah Haveman. "They followed their plan and moved well as a group through the race. Their chemistry was outstanding. Rebecca set the tone for us and Marasco was able to move with her."
Sophomore Rebecca Craddock had a stellar performance for the Illini in her season debut. The Brunswick, Ohio, native finished fifteenth overall, second on the team, with a time of 17:51.8.
Finishing 33rd and 34th, respectively were Illinois sophomores Nicki Cast and Allison McGrath. Cast finished the race in 18:25.5 in her season debut, good for third on the team. McGrath came in right behind her, clocking a time of 18:27.2. Rounding out the Illini top-five finishers was freshman Emma Milburn, who posted a season-best time of 18:37.2 and finished 49th overall. Redshirt freshman Caroline Fix and junior Grace Rogers also set new season-bests, finishing the Commodore Classic in 18:41.3 and 19:18.0 respectively.
This is the second consecutive second-place finish for the Illini. The Orange and Blue took second place at the EIU Walt Crawford Open on August 31.
"We are moving in a great direction as a program," Haveman said.
Up next, the Illini women will head to the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, September 29. The race will begin at 11:15 a.m. CT
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.
Full Illinois Results:
Women's 5K:
10. Madison Marasco, 17:46.8
15. Rebecca Craddock, 17:51.8
33. Nicki Cast, 18:25.5
34. Allison McGrath, 18:27.2
49. Emma Milburn, 18:37.2
56. Caroline Fix, 18:41.3
75. Katie Stapleton, 19:01.6
83. Mikaela Lucki, 19:13. 6
87. Grace Rogers, 19:18.0
131. Mikayla Olsen, 19:58.0
135. Vanessa Flaherty, 20:08.9
145. Kelli Callahan, 20:22.7
179. Shanice Garbutt, 24:35.8
Team Scores:
1 Ohio State 105
2 Illinois 126
3 Vanderbilt 133
4 Lipscomb 142
5 Xavier (OH) 146
6 Eastern Kentucky 155
7 Clemson 169
8 Southern Miss. 173
9 Louisville 203
10 Middle Tennessee State 229
11 Belmont 239
12 Tennessee Tech 340
13 Samford 342
14 Southern Illinois 380
15 Chattanooga 397
16 UAB 443
17 Murray State 482
18 Mercer 513
19 Tennessee State 628
