Runners plagued by crowding, mud
Cecelia Williams has run in all conditions
— bad weather, crowded high school state meets, tough hills — but
nothing has compared to last Saturday's Men's and Women's Cross Country
Pre-NCAA Meet at Iowa State University.
"It was insane," Williams said. "I've never been scared in a race
before."
The field for both men and women consisted of 60 teams, with over
400 runners in each race.
The Illini men placed 44th and the women were 22nd with 15 of the
nation's top 25 teams in attendance.
Of the 21 teams that finished ahead of the Illini women, 18 were nationally
ranked. The team beat nationally-ranked Duke, North Carolina and South
Florida. In the Big Ten, only Wisconsin and Minnesota placed ahead
of the Illini.
The men were beat by all of the four Big Ten teams in attendance,
Penn State, Indiana, Ohio State and Minnesota.
Senior Ryan Eason led the men Saturday, as he has for much of the
season, finishing 160th over the 10-kilometer course with a time of
32:49.
Following Eason were senior Mike Lucchesi, placing 227th, Dan Horyn,
placing 229th, freshman Tim Seiwert, placing 249th and junior Caleb
Grinter, placing 266th.
"There's 400 runners in the field," Wieneke said. "There's could haves
and should haves, but the fact of the matter is that we didn't get
the job done. That's it."
The Illini women had a better showing at the meet, but had their problems
as well.
"I think the magnitude had an effect on us," said assistant coach
Michelle Byrne. "I don't think we handled this meet as well as we
should've."
Byrne said that she attributes her team's performance largely on the
chaotic race itself.
"I truly feel like the field is too big," Byrne said. "There were
parts of the course where it was just impossible to run fast. They
were jogging."
"There were girls falling. One girl fell right in front of me. It
was just so steep and there were way too many people," Williams said.
Williams led the women, placing 50th over the 6-kilometer course in
a time of 22:07.1. Following Williams was sophomore Amber Hunt, placing
100th, freshman Marcy Bice, placing 150th, freshman Erin Frakes, placing
194th and freshman Breanna Wabick, placing 234th.
Brigham Young University won the meet with 117 points, followed by
Stanford with 151 and Wisconsin with 189.
"BYU had its top four in the top 25 and its fifth was 27th," Williams
said. "They ran in a block."
With the Big Ten meet approaching and the NCAA meet Nov. 20, Williams
said this meet happened at the right time.
"I think our team is capable of doing a lot better," Williams said.
"I mean, we're a lot better than what we showed. We had kind of an
off-day team-wise, but I would rather it be this meet than another
one."
After two weeks off, both the men's and women's teams will travel
to Wisconsin for the Big Ten meet on Oct. 29.
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