The Illinois State men's cross country team placed third of 11 teams in the field, while the women placed fourth of 12 schools at the 2022 MVC Championship, hosted by Indiana State University.
Illinois State freshman Mathis Chavand was named the MVC Freshman of the Year while earning First Team All-MVC honors, as Baptiste Tardiveau and Zack Loomis each were named to the All-MVC Honorable Mention. On the women's side Ailey Mitchell earned First Team All-MVC honors while Rachel Hickey was named honorable mention All-MVC.
On the men's side the Redbirds earned 86 team points, behind only Bradley (42) and Drake (46). Belmont (97), Southern Illinois (130), Indiana State (144), UIC (158), Valparaiso (195), Northern Iowa (251), Murray State (288), and Evansville (356) rounded out the 11 teams in the championship.
"The men competed very well," said Illinois State director of track and field/cross country Jeff Bovee. "We ran a very good race through 5,000 meters – we were right in the mix with Bradley and Drake – and we executed everything over the first two-thirds of the race exactly like we had hoped to. We had everyone in that top pack and gave ourselves a chance to come away with a trophy. The guys battled all the way to the end."
The Redbird women tallied 96 team points, and trailed Bradley (22), Belmont (78), and Drake (82), while topping Southern Illinois (143), UIC (168), Northern Iowa (170), Missouri State (241), Murray State (244), Indiana State (246), Valparaiso (318), and Evansville (327).
Leading the way for the ISU men was Chavand who took ninth in a time of 24:52.6 while Tardiveau placed 13th in a time of 24:58.1 as Loomis placed 15th in 24:59.6. For Chavand and Loomis it was their third consecutive race sub-25 minutes, while Tardiveau has raced four times this season – each under 25 minutes.
Tyler Klouda placed 23rd in a time of 25:08.9, while Charlie Wetzel rounded out the five scoring Redbirds in the field by placing 26th in a time of 25:11.8. Between Chavand and Wetzel, the gap between the first and last scorer was a remarkable 19 seconds – the narrowest such gap in the field over the 8,000 meters.
"We had a very tight pack of runners – 19 seconds from one to five – that is fantastic for a five-mile race, as tough as this course is," said Bovee. "This is a true championship course that has a storied history. The pace was conservative early for the whole field and when things started heating up we handled it well, and we finished third in a very deep conference, and we are really pleased with the guys."
Tyler Polak placed sixth for ISU and 42nd overall in a time of 25:48.1 with Yusuf Baig placing 48th in 26:02.8. Jordan Wood rounded out the eight Redbirds in the race by placing 69th in a time of 27:00.1.
On the women's side Mitchell paved the way by placing eighth in a time of 21:37.8, her lowest time of the season and just off her personal best set at the MVC Championships a season ago in which she also earned First Team All-MVC honors. Hickey earned the fifth cross country All-MVC honor of her career by placing 14th overall for the second consecutive season (including the CoVID season that did not use a season of eligibility). She closes her ISU MVC Championship career with a pair of eighth place finishes, a 12th place finish, and two 14th place finishes.
"Ailey Mitchell bounced back today and is moving in the right direction," said Bovee. "She had her best race of the season, tying her best finish in the conference championship in cross country. I was really pleased with her. I thought Rachel Hickey definitely had her best race of the season and to see her get All-Conference honorable mention, that is the fifth time she has earned a cross country All-MVC honor, whether it be first team or honorable mention. She has had a great career so far with one more race to go. It will be exciting to see how she finishes off her career."
Caroline Meyers narrowly missed the All-MVC podium as she placed 17th in a time of 22:07.2, while Claire Fuhlhage and Lauren Schultze finished back-to-back at 29th and 30th with times of 22:39.3 and 22:46.1, respectively.
The Redbirds' final three runners came across the finish line back-to-back-to-back with Maddi Exline (23:07.8) placing 44th, Ashley Heagy (23:09.0) placing 45th and Kaitlin Skeate (23:12.6) 46th.
"We didn't hit everything the way that we were hoping to on the women's side today, we certainly have a better race in us," commented the head coach. "I think we'll bounce back and have a much better team race in two weeks. There were definitely some ups and downs."
Both Redbird squads return to action in two weeks when the team travels to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the field at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Missouri.
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