Saturday, November 14, 2009

Women finish 10th at Nationals




The ICC Women's Cross Country team achieved the highest finish ever for a Cougar team in Division 1 by finishing 10th of 35 teams at the national meet held at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. Brittany Carius came within 2 seconds of gaining her second All-American finish with her 16th place finish in the fine time of 18:58. Also under 20:00 were Kayla Christ in 19:48 and Raven Pettry in 19:59. Alyssa Imig, Bonni Martin, Michelle Carter, and Olivia Coker completed the team. On a side note, the Cougars were the second team to finish without the use of a foreign athlete.
The men's team completed their season by finishing 24th of the 35 team field. They were led by the 49th place finish of Jaquaileon Smith. The freshman finished in a time of 27:06. Sophomores Shane Leiby, Cory Shoopman, Robert Deatherage, and Kyle Lueken completed their careers as scorers for the Cougars. Josh Battles and Nick Leiby finished in the 6 and 7 positions.
Team titles were won by the women's team of Central Arizona and the men from Rend Lake.
Three members from each of the Cougar teams will return next year to try to improve their positions in Spartenburg, SC, while the graduating sophomores leave having rewritten the record books over the last two years. Thanks for the memories, guys and gals!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Nationals Preview

Three years ago, Illinois Central College was selected to host the 2009 NJCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships. In a short 6 days, that anticipated day will arrive when over 500 athletes toe the line at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. Race times are 10:00 for the women's 5k and 11:00 for the men's 8k.
Last year, the ICC women's team finished 11th and the men 20th in South Carolina. Going into this year's race, the men are ranked 17th and the women 8th.
For the men to achieve their goal of a top 10 finish, they will need strong up front running from JQ Smith and Shane Leiby, along with solid performances from Josh Battles, Nick Leiby, Cory Shoopman, Robert Deatherage, and Kyle Lueken. Shane and JQ have legitimate chances at coaches association All-American recognition, which goes to the top 25 American finishers.
Depth has been a strong asset of the women's team all season, with Brittany Carius, Michelle Carter, Kayla Christ, and Raven Pettry all hovering around the 20:00 mark for 5k. Last year, both Brittany and Alyssa Imig received All-American recognition, with Britt becoming the first ICC runner to receive NJCAA All American status by virtue of her 11th place finish. Olivia Coker and Bonni Martin are also running well, and few teams in the country can boast a top 7 as strong as ICC's. With season best performances from all 7, a top 5, or even top 3 team finish is not out of the question.
Both races should be exciting to watch on the spectator-friendly course. Don't miss it!