McLean County Times

Senior runner Crabtree of Illinois Wesleyan University’s women’s cross country team tied a 23-year-old College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship meet record on Saturday, November 1, at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Illinois. This achievement led her to secure her second career conference championship. Crabtree’s performance helped the Titan women finish third as a team, while the men’s team placed fifth in their 8k race.

Crabtree completed the course with a time of 21:05.1, breaking her own school record by 27 seconds. Her time matched Kathleen Brice's from Elmhurst, who set the CCIW Championship record in 2003. This victory marks Crabtree’s fifth career win and fourth this season. She is now the first two-time CCIW champion in Illinois Wesleyan history and only the eighth athlete to achieve this distinction in conference history.

Fellow senior Nazos also earned All-CCIW honors for the third consecutive year by finishing 16th with a time of 23:18.3 and was named to the All-CCIW Second Team.

On the men’s side, senior Daniel was Illinois Wesleyan’s top finisher, clocking a personal-best time of 25:43.2 for a 13th-place finish and earning All-CCIW Second Team honors. Daniel’s placement is the best for an IWU male runner at the conference championship since Steven Raybould finished 12th in 2019.

Six members of the men’s team recorded personal bests during the meet, including sophomore and senior , who finished 26th and 39th respectively.

Sophomores and were recognized as Illinois Wesleyan's RESPECT award honorees. Crabtree was named CCIW Women's Student-Athlete of the Meet.

Illinois Wesleyan will compete next at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship on November 15, hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

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