Men's Cross Country History
The University of Illinois has had a strong and successful program since the early 1900s. Several great runners have made significant contributions throughout the years. Most recently, Trent Hoerr owned the spotlight. Hoerr finished third at the 2007 Big Ten Championships and went on to earn All-America honors with a 16th-place finish at the NCAA meet. In addition, the Morton, Ill., native was named the 2007 Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He also set a new Illinois 8K record with a time of 23:39 at Pre-Nationals.
In the 1980s, UI won one Big Ten crown and finished second on four other occasions. The premier runners of the decade were All-Americans Kerry Dickson, Jeff Jacobs, Greg Domantay, Ty Wolf and Joe Leuchtmann.
The '70s were dominated by great individual performances. In 1971, Rick Gross finished second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation. Jim Eicken earned All-America honors in 1978, and Mike Durkin finished third in the conference and 18th in the nation in 1973.
Craig Virgin was synonymous with success in the 1970s. He was the first runner in Big Ten history to become a four-time cross country champion, winning the crown from 1973-76. Virgin also won the 1975 NCAA individual title and went on to win the cross country world championship in 1980 and '81.
Preceding Virgin in the 1960's were All-Americans Ken Brown, Allen Carius and Ken Howse. In 1960, Brown finished fourth in both the Big Ten and the nation.
Howse garnered All-American status in 1969 after a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten and 37th nationally. The dominant Fighting Illini runner in the '60s was Allen Carius. In 1962 and 63, Carius repeated as the Big Ten champion. In 1962, he placed 12th at the NCAA National Championships and earned All-American status.
Each year, most of these former athletes, along with dozens of other Illinois cross country alumni and their families from all decades return to Champaign-Urbana one weekend during the fall to keep the Fighting Illini tradition alive.
