Brissman/Lundeen Invitational - Augustana University

Shane Leiby and Brittany Carius led the men's and women's teams to 15th places (of 28 teams) at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island Saturday. Brittany set a school record of 23:54 on the 6km course to finish in 31st place while Shane edged into the top 10 all-time on the men's side with 26:53 for 8km and 36th place. Against just Junior Colleges, the men were 4th of 7 full teams and the women were 2nd of 5.
Also setting PR's for the women were Bonni Martin, who ran a fine 24:40 in 63rd place, Alyssa Imig (25:10, 87th), and Carrie Bunting (25:24, 100th). Rounding out the placing were Elizabeth Isbell, (27:58, 188th) and Darce Knapp (28:37, 207th). A total of 315 women started the race.
Finishing behind Shane for the Cougars was Michael Donini, who missed his PR by 2 seconds with his 27:57 in 89th place. Personal bests were earned by Frederick Kiprono (28:26, 126th) and Matt McKinney (28:39, 144th). Cory Shoopman finished next with 28:52 in 153rd place and Robert Deatherage set a PR as our 6th finisher when he ran 28:57 for 157th place. Nick Reed and Matt Young also set personal bests with 31:46 and 34:04, respectively. Six of the nine Cougar harriers finished in the top half of the field of 343.
After a week off of competition, the teams will travel to Lisle, IL to defend their Junior College titles in the Benedictine Eagle Invitational October 10.

Teams finish 3rd among colleges at Illinois Intercollegiates

Both the men's and women's teams finished 3rd among the college teams at the Illinois Intercollegiates Friday in Normal. Overall, the men were 15th of 26 teams and the women were 14th of 25. Leading the way for the men was Shane Leiby, who finished 96th overall with his 27:38, but 20th among college runners. He was capably followed by Michael Donini, Kyle Lueken, Frederick Kiprono, Matt McKinney, and Robert Deatherage in 26th, 29th, 35th, 38th, and 46th respectively. Dropping huge chunks of time from their PR's were Frederick and Robert. Only Rend Lake and Olivet Nazarene bested the Cougars among the 10 college division schools.

The women were once again led by Brittany Carius, who came close to her PR with a 20:12 in 62nd place, 11th among collegiates. Following her were Bonni Martin, Alyssa Imig, Olivia Coker, Carrie Bunting, Darce Knapp, and Elizabeth Isbell in places 14, 19, 24, 25, 27, and 37. Alyssa's race was her first as a Cougar. Bonni showed improvement in her second, and Olivia, Carrie, and Elizabeth had solid races. Darce is rapidly rounding into shape after a summer in California. As a team in the college division, the women were third behind Rend Lake and St. Xavier.

Next Race: Saturday, September 27 in the Augustana University Invitational, Rock Island, IL.

Teams finish 6th at Bradley Open

Both the men's and women's teams finished sixth of 12 teams in the college division of the Bradley Open. The women easily handled the other junior college teams and were very competitive with teams such as Monmouth, Lewis, St. Mary's and Greenville. For the second week in a row, Brittany Carius led the Cougars, finishing 8th among college runners with a fine time of 20:09. Despite the mud, only one other ICC woman has run faster on the Detweiller course. She was followed by Bonni Martin, making her debut with 21:08 in 16th, Carrie Bunting (21:36, 26th), Olivia Coker (21:46, 33rd), Elizabeth Isbell (22:24, 48th), and Darce Knapp (22:45, 58th). Olivia made a huge improvement over her performance last week and earned the photo above.

Five of the seven men who ran last week at WIU had time improvements in the quagmire of Detweiller. Matt McKinney (above) took no less than 3 minutes off his time with a 28:45 in 47th place. He becomes the sixth Cougar to break 29:00 this year. Billy Miller again led the pack with 26:51 in 12th place among college runners. He was capably backed by Cory Shoopman (28:07, 33rd), Shane Leiby (28:09, 34th), Kyle Lueken (28:36, 44th), Robert Deatherage (30:02, 73rd), and Nick Reed (32:56, 112th). All but Billy and Shane improved times from last week. Making their ICC debut were Cody Roeder (29:19, 59th), Frederick Kiprono (30:31, 82nd), and Matt Young (35:26, 120th).

As a team, the Cougars beat fellow JC teams Lincoln, DuPage, Morton, and Carl Sandburg, along with 4-year schools Greenville and Edgewood. Ahead of them were Division III powers North Central, St. Xavier, Lewis, Monmouth, and Illinois Wesleyan.

Next week: Illinois Intercollegiates at the ISU Golf Course.

Success Comes in 3rd's at WIU Invite

Both the men's and women's cross country teams came in third at the 6-team Western IL University Early Bird Invitational Friday. The men scored 53 points and were edged by Bradley University with 51 and WIU with 31. They soundly defeated rival Lincoln College, which had 108 points, Knox with 127, and Carl Sandburg with 162. Another third was posted by winner Billy Miller, who posted the third fastest time ever by an ICC runner with his 26:13. Four other runners finished under 29 minutes, the first time ever by an ICC men's team. They were Shane Leiby (8th, 27:25), Michael Donini (13th, 27:55), Cory Shoopman (17th, 28:34), and Kyle Lueken (19th, 28:41). Bobby Deatherage posted a 30:23 in 34th place, Matt McKinney had 31:57 in 41st, and Nick Reed equalled his PR from last year with 33:08 in 47th.

The women's team scored 102 points to take third behind Bradley and WIU, but ahead of Knox and Lincoln. Brittany Carius ran the third fastest women's 6km time with her 24:22 in 10th place. Also running well were Carrie Bunting (23rd, 26:20), Elizabeth Isbell (30th, 27:11), Olivia Coker (31st, 27:24), and Darce Knapp (32nd, 27:32).

Next up: Bradley Open - Friday, September 12 at Detweiller Park.