McLean County Times

The Illinois State Cross Country team will divide to participate in two separate events this Friday and Saturday. A portion of the team is scheduled to compete at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois on Friday, with activities starting at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, other team members will race at the NCAA Pre-Meet in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, with races commencing at 10 a.m.

Recently, the men's team from Illinois State finished ninth with 280 points, while the women's team placed 15th with 517 points during an event featuring over 40 schools. Seniors Mathis Chavand, William Sinclair, and Zack Loomis achieved new top-10 times in program history for the men's side. Chavand and Sinclair broke previous records with times of 23:20.9 and 23:32.1 respectively, while Loomis recorded a personal best of 23:57.3.

On the women's side, Astrid Van Breedam ran a time of 21:26.5, marking the tenth-fastest time in program history during only her second career 6k race.

Following their performance in Columbia, Missouri, the men's cross country squad received a No. 7 ranking in the latest USTFCCCA Regional Coaches' Rankings. This marks their highest ranking since Week 6 of 2018 when they were ranked No. 8.

The athletes competing at each event are as follows:

For the Bradley Pink Classic - Women: Trixie Johnson (So.), Amanda Pocica (Fr.), Ashlyn Smith (Fr.). For Men: Luke Barham (Fr.), Will Gelon (Fr.), Charlie Kistner (Sr.), Owen O'Shea (So.), Garrett Slack (Jr.), Noah Penry (So.), Josh Weeks (Fr.), Carter Smott (So.), Nathan Virginelli (So.).

For Pre-Nats - Women: Grace Erb (So.), Mattison Plummer (Sr.), Maggie Reed (Jr.), Lauren Schulze (Sr.), Kaitlin Skeate (Sr.), Astrid Van Breedam (Fr.). For Men: Yusuf Baig (Jr.), Julian Baker (Fr.), Mathis Chavand (R-Sr), Nick Doud(Gr), Zack Loomis(Sr), Dylan Myers(So), Blake Oleson(So), William Sinclair(Gr).

Next on their schedule is a trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the MVC Cross Country Championship beginning at 10:30 a.m.