McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's and women's cross country teams are preparing to compete in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships, which will take place in Waverly, Iowa, on Saturday, November 15. The event will be held at the Max Cross Country Course. The men's 8k race is scheduled for 11 a.m., followed by the women's 6k race at noon.

Senior runner from Normal, Illinois, recently secured her second College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship title and is aiming for her fifth win this season and sixth overall. She equaled a CCIW Championship record that had stood for 22 years and broke her own school record with a time of 21:05.1. Another senior from Batavia, Illinois, earned Second Team All-CCIW honors for the third straight year after finishing 16th at the conference meet.

On the men's team, senior from Lake Barrington achieved All-CCIW status by placing 12th with a personal best time of 25:43.2. His performance was the highest finish by an Illinois Wesleyan runner at the conference meet since 2019 and ranks as the twelfth-best time in program history.

At the recent CCIW Championships, the women's team finished third with 92 points while the men's team improved on last year's result to take fifth place with 153 points.

Earlier this season, both teams competed at Max Cross Country Course during the Dan Hutson Invite hosted by Wartburg College on October 4. Five members of the team set new personal records at that event, with Crabtree finishing fourth.

According to rankings released on November 4 by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Illinois Wesleyan's women's team is ranked tenth in the Midwest Region. The University of Chicago holds first place in these rankings, followed by Washington University in St. Louis and Wartburg College. Wheaton College moved up to seventh after winning this year's CCIW Championship.

For men's regional rankings, Wartburg leads ahead of Chicago and North Central College—the latter being this year's CCIW champion.

Live statistics for Saturday’s races will be available online.