McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's cross country team is preparing for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships, which will take place at St. James Farm in Warrenville, Illinois, on November 2. The event is hosted by North Park University.

According to the annual CCIW Pre-Championship Coaches Poll released on October 31, the Titans are expected to finish second in the competition. They received 57 points and one first-place vote in the poll. Wheaton College topped the poll with eight first-place votes and 64 points. North Central followed with 41 points, while Augustana and Carthage tied for fourth place.

Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton have faced each other twice this season, with Wheaton coming out ahead both times. In regional rankings by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Wheaton ranks fifth in the Midwest region while Illinois Wesleyan ranks eighth.

Key performers for Illinois Wesleyan include junior [name redacted] from Normal, Illinois, who is a defending CCIW champion, and senior [name redacted] from Libertyville, Illinois, a two-time First Team All-CCIW honoree. [Name redacted]'s top performance was at the DIII Pre-Nationals race on October 4 with a time of 22:02.0. Meanwhile, [name redacted] achieved her best time of 22:29.3 at the Gil Dodds Invitational on September 21.

Junior [name redacted] from Batavia, Illinois, who earned Second Team All-CCIW status last year after finishing 13th at the championships, will also be competing again this year.

The women's 6k race will start at noon on Saturday, followed by the men's 8k race at 12:45 p.m., with open races following afterward. An awards ceremony will conclude the day's events. Results will be available on iwusports.com after all races are completed.