Sunday, November 9, 2008

History Made at NJCAA Nationals!



It was the end of their ICC cross country careers for sophomores Billy Miller, Darce Knapp, and Michael Donini, but it was a couple of freshmen women that entered the record books at the NJCAA Division I national championships held at sunny, warm Spartanburg, SC.
Led by Brittany Carius, who set a school record of 18:43 and became the first Cougar NJCAA Cross Country All-American, the women's team finished in 11th place and tied the highest finish ever for an ICC women's Cross Country team. Finishing behind Brittany in 29th place was Alyssa Imig, who ran 19:36, the 4th fastest ICC time ever, and earned a Coaches' Association All-American award for being one of the top 25 American citizens to finish the race. Brit and Alyssa become the second and third ICC women to earn this distinction. Not to be outdone, Carrie Bunting ran a PR of 20:24 to finish in 68th place. This was the 11th fastest time ever by a Cougar woman. Backing up the top 3 were Bonni Martin in 103rd place, Olivia Coker in 125th, Elizabeth Isbell in 154th, and Darce Knapp in 171st place. There were 33 teams and 246 finishers.
The men's team, led by Billy Miller's 27:22 in 80th place, finished 20th of the 32 teams. Billy was followed closely by Frederick Kiprono, who ran a season best of 27:31 in 89th place, and Shane Leiby, who clocked 27:43 in 104th. Michael Donini in 133rd, Robert Deatherage in 145th, Kyle Lueken in 172nd, and Cory Shoopman in 182nd completed the team. There were 253 men finishers.
With 6 of the 7 women and 6 of the top 8 men returning next year, expectations are high for a lofty team finish when ICC hosts nationals next year.
Save the date: Saturday, November 14, 2009 at Newman Golf Course. Note: This is one week AFTER the IHSA state meet at Detweiller, so there is no conflict. Alumni: We would love to have you come back to help. Contact Coach Herold (Gherold@icc.edu) if you are able and willing.



Sunday, November 2, 2008

Nationals Preview


For the sixth year in a row, both the ICC men’s and women’s cross country teams will be competing in the national meet, being held this year on Saturday, November 8 in Spartanburg, SC. Both teams are coming off second place finishes at the Regional meet, the men behind top top-ranked Rend Lake College and the women behind fourth-ranked Rend.
Both teams will be relatively inexperienced at the national level. Sophomore Billy Miller of Metamora is the only male runner to have run last year, finishing in 82nd place. Darci Knapp of Eureka in the only female with nationals experience, finishing last year in 127th place.
Miller and freshman Shane Leiby of East Peoria lead this year’s men’s team. Leiby led the men at regionals with a seventh place finish. Miller was the early season team leader, but ran into some mid-season injury difficulties. He now appears to be back at full strength and both he and Leiby should be battling for All-American finishes. Behind these two, the team is deep and talented. Frederick Kiprono of Kenya has firmly established himself in the number 3 position and is improving weekly. Sophomore Michael Donini of Henry has been battling leg problems, but has remained in the number 4 spot, ahead of freshman Robert Deatherage of Washington, who has moved up from the number 8 position in the last month. Cory Shoopman of Metamora, Kyle Lueken and Matt McKinney, both from Limestone high school, give the team great depth. Going into nationals we rank 17th and look to improve greatly on last year’s 25th place finish.
The women’s team this year has also been dominated by freshmen. The lone sophomore, Knapp, is coming off of an injury but should be ready to run at nationals. The team leader this year has been freshman Brittany Carius of Morton. She set a school record for the 6 km distance this year and came within 2 seconds of the 5 km record in her 3rd place finish at regionals. The time ranks 16th on this year’s NJCAA performance list. Brit is capably backed by fellow freshmen Bonni Martin of Eureka and Alyssa Imig of Tremont. Martin claimed the 4th best ICC 5 km time at regionals while Imig moved into the number 8 spot. All three have a good chance of attaining All-American status at this year’s national meet. Carrie Bunting of Washington, Olivia Coker of Peoria Richwoods, and Elizabeth Isbell of Elmwood, all freshmen, have been capably holding down the number 3 through 6 positions. Strong finishes by them should help the team to improve on last year’s 16th place finish. The team is currently ranked in the 12th spot.
The national meet is hosted by Spartanburg Methodist College. Race times are 10:00 (women) and 11:00 (men). ICC will be hosting the meet at Newman Golf Course in 2009.