Sept. 18, 2009

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2009 Illinois Intercollegiate Results

NORMAL, Ill - Kirsten Lang's second-place finish and personal-best time of 17:55 propelled the Illinois State women's cross country team to the crown at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships for the first time since 1986 Friday. The Redbirds had five runners finishing in the top-ten. The men's team took fourth place in the 8K race. The meet was held at the Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University.

On the women's side, the `Birds finished with 25 points which is a 45 point improvement from last year's championship 70 point total. ISU led the field by 37 points. Loyola finished in second place with 60 points and Illinois took third with 88 points. UIC was fourth with 109 points, while Eastern Illinois rounded out the top five with 118 points.

"The women did outstanding," said head coach Jeff Bovee. "Their goals for the year are to compete for a chance at the conference championship and to compete for the regional championship at the end of the year. We had several women run big-time personal bests which helps us towards our goal."

Lang led the Redbirds with her personal-best performance in the women's 5K. Sarah Glowacki (17:57) and Michelle Brunk (18:03) followed Lang in third and fourth place, as well as Jess Husted (18:18) in sixth and Samantha Bluske (18:21) in eighth. Illinois-Chicago's Kristen Heckert posted the top time for the women overall.

In the men's University Division, Illinois won the meet with 34 points, while ISU finished in a close second with 58 points. North Central College finished first overall ahead of Rend Lake College, which finished second.

The men's team was led by Scott Krapf who finished first in the University division and fourth overall in the men's 8K with a personal-best time of 24:28 which helped lead the `Birds to its second place finish. Matt Mroczynski followed up in third for University and eighth overall with a time of 24:50 which also helped guide the Redbirds.

Rend Lake College's Stephen Sambu won the men's overall title for the second consecutive season with a personal-best time of 23:48. In the 5K women's open Stacy Hague finished in first-place with a time of 19:03, she competed unattached.

Illinois State continues its cross country schedule at the Notre Dame Invitational Oct. 2, in South Bend, Ind.

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