NJCAA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS

For the first time in the short history of the ICC Cross Country teams, we have had two Distinguished Academic All-Americans in one year. Kristen Galat and Jill Kennelly achieved this honor by graduating with grade-point-averages of 3.9 and 3.8, respectively.

Kristen, who spent two weeks this summer in Romania and Hungary, will be continuing her education at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she will study Secondary English Education. Jill will start the OSF St. Francis school of nursing in August.

We wish them well; they have been great leaders both on the field and in the classroom.

Steamboat Results

Seven ICC Cross Country athletes and two coaches ran the 4-mile at the 33rd Steamboat Classic, Saturday, June 16. It was a steamy morning and running was difficult, but some of the performances were pretty hot. On the women's side, Marissa Menke led the way with a 27:56 clocking to place 44th among the women. Incoming frosh, Darce Knapp of Eureka, ran 31:59 for 120th among the women and 18th in her age division. Kelsey Holsapple also competed and finished with a leasurely 39:56.

On the men's side, Kevin Martin ran a fine 21:08 for 33rd place overall. Incoming freshman Michael Donini of Henry showed great promise with a 23:09. Scott Perry proved that he maintained fitness while in Texas by running 23:29, and another frosh-to-be, Nick Reed of Bartonville, ran 27:31.

Coach Tiffany Mack finished the 4 miles in 28:56 for 62nd pace among women, and Coach Glenn Herold ran 24:58 for 137th overall and 2nd in his age division.

Question: What is the purpose of Life?

Answer:

To be

the eyes

and ears

and conscience

of the Creator of the Universe,

you fool.

- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in Breakfast of Champions

Kevin Again PR's in Naperville

For the second time in two weeks, Kevin Martin logged a PR at the North Central College Last Chance Meet when he clocked 4:04.90 for his 1500 meter run.

This equates to about a 4:22.5 mile and a 10 second improvement since starting the indoor season. Nice job for making your last track race of the season your best, Kevin!

Amanda and Kevin PR in Naperville

Amanda Holman and Kevin Martin both recorded PR's last Friday in a meet at North Central College in Naperville. Faster than a stinging Hornet (pun intended), Amanda ran the 800 in 2:16.8 and Kevin split a 4:05.9 for the 1500 meters.

Nice job, Cougars!

Two wins for relay teams at Knox

Feeling the pressure behind her, Kelsey Holsapple somehow came up with a kick in the last 200 meters to hold off a strong challenge by Augustana College in the 1600 meter leg of the Distance Medley Relay. Filling in at the last second, Kelsey completed a strong 1 1/2 miles of racing within a time period of less than an hour. The DMR was led of by the Volleyball duo of Amanda Holman and Brianne Wille. Amanda took the lead with the opening 1200 meters and handed off to Brianne, who ran a strong 400 leg on just 2 days of training. Marissa Menke held the lead with her 800 leg and Kelsey completed the double.

Earlier, the 4 x 800 team of Amanda, Kelsey, Hannah Griffin, and Marissa dominated the field with a fine time of 10:30. Leading from start to finish, the foursome essentially ran against the clock and an incessant backstretch wind.

Carl Pflederer also represented the Cougars with his first ever 5km track run. Racing for the first time since last fall, he gamely hung with the pack for the first half of the race, but fell back a bit in the last 6 laps. It was a good first effort under tough conditions.

ICC to Host NJCAA Nationals in 2009

At the recent national meeting of the NJCAA, Illinois Central College was designated as the host of the 2009 Division 1 National meet. The men's and women's races will be held on Saturday, November 14.
This is quite an honor for the ICC Cross Country program, which has been in existence for just 5 years. No doubt the national office recognizes the leadership of ICC on the natonal level, having recently designated ICC as the site for the 2008 and 2009 Women's Basketball nationals. They also recognize that the Peoria area is a mecca for cross country in the state of Illinois and will maintain the standards that they have kept in hosting the state meet for over 30 years.

Go Cougars!