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!

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!

Women Win Regional Crown!

The ICC Women's Cross country team placed 7 runners in the top 11 places to easily win the Region 24 title Saturday at soggy Newman Golf Course. Rend Lake finished 1-3, but the Cougars placed 4 runners before Rend's number 3 and 7 before their number 5 to regain the title, last won in 2006. Brittany Carius finished second overall and had strong backing from Raven Pettry, Kayla Christ, Alyssa Imig, Michelle Carter, Olivia Coker, and Bonni Martin. Combined with Region 11, the Cougars finished second to a strong Iowa Central team and served notice that they should not be taken lightly at nationals in 2 weeks.

Facing some of the best teams in the country, the ICC men finished second in the region to top ranked Rend Lake. JQ Smith and Shane Leiby had top 10 finished to lead the Cougars, who also received strong performances from Robert Deatherage, Nick Leiby (who outkicked a Danville runner to secure the second team spot), Josh Battles, Cory Shoopman, and Kyle Lueken. Though Danville had the same point total as the Cougars, ICC had a stronger number 6 runner to secure the position.

It will be deja vu all over again in 2 weeks when ICC hosts the national meet at (hopefully) a dryer Newman Course. Race times on November 14 are 10:00 for the women and 11:00 for the men.

REGIONALS PREVIEW

It will be a super regional Saturday, October 31, in more ways than one when ICC hosts both Region 24 and Region 11 at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. Five of the top 25 ranked teams in the country, both men and women, will be featured in the race. Race times are 3:30 for the women and 4:15 for the men.

The men's field is likely to be led by top ranked and defending regional champ Rend Lake college. Also in the field though, are 7th ranked Iowa Central, 10th ranked Iowa Western, 13th ranked Northern Iowa Area CC, 15th ranked ICC, and 25th ranked Danville. ICC has been getting solid 1-2 finishes from sophomore Shane Leiby and frosh JQ Smith, but our chances to beat some of the Iowa schools lies in the ability of the 3 through 7 runners to step up. Frederick Kiprono, who was running number 3 earlier in the season, is out with an injury, so Josh Battles, Kyle Lueken, Nick Leiby, Cory Shoopman, and Robert Deatherage must make up the slack. Bobby Widick is now healthy and running well and may also be a factor for the Cougars.

The women's race should also be a barn burner. Fourth ranked Iowa Central, number 8 ICC, and defending regional champion Rend Lake, ranked 13th, look to be the odds-on favorites, but 17th ranked Iowa Western and 24th ranked Northern Iowa Area will make the team race interesting. ICC has been led all season by All-American Brittany Carius, who will likely make a run for the individual title against Julia Sambu, a Kenyan from Rend Lake. Britt is capably backed by the strong unit of fellow soph Alyssa Imig, and frosh Kayla Christ, Michelle Carter, and Raven Pettry. Olivia Coker and Bonni Martin, currently running in the 6th and 7th positions, will be important to the Cougar's team chances. Jenny Smiles has also been looking good and is expected to challenge for a top 7 spot. Depth has been a strong asset of the Cougars all season and will be important once again at the regional meet.

Fan's wishing to watch the meet should park at Sterling Middle School on Sterling Avenue. The starting line is about 400 meters east of Sterling on number 16 fairway.

Cougar Women Dominate Sauk Valley Invitational

The ICC women dominated the Sauk Valley Community College Invitational today, placing 7 in the top 8 and winning the meet with 20 points. Sauk placed second of the scoring teams with 57 points. Harper College and Joliet Junior College trailed with 67 and 96 points, respectively. Victoria Castaneda of Sauk was the individual winner with a time of 19:30 on the 3 mile course. Kayla Christ, Alyssa Imig, Brittany Carius, Michelle Carter, Raven Pettry, Bonni Martin, and Olivia Coker, all of ICC took the next 7 places.
The ICC men's team scored 47 points in placing 2nd to Waubonsee Community College's 25 points. Jaquaileon Smith led the Cougars with a 4th place finish. Shane Leiby, Cory Shoopman, Nick Leiby, and Josh Battles placed 6th, 10th, 13th, and 14th, respectively in the 66 runner field. Jared Klein of Waubonsee was the individual winner in 28:09.

The team now has a week off of competition in preparation for the Region 24 meet on Saturday, October 31 at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. The women will start at 3:30 pm, with the men to follow at 4:15.

Women's Results - Team
1 ICC 20
2 Sauk Valley 57
3 Harper College 67
4 Joliet Junior College 96

ICC Placings: (45 runners finished)
Winner: Victoria Casteneda (Sauk Valley) 19:30
2. Kayla Christ 20:10
3. Alyssa Imig 20:16
4. Brittany Carius 20:17
5. Michelle Carter 20:33
6. Raven Pettry 20:35
7. Bonni Martin 21:09
8. Olivia Coker 21:11
18. Jenny Smiles 22:27
21. Danie Fisher 22:40
25. Elizabeth Isbell 23:06
26. Rebekah Baer 23:18
31. Olivia Renken 25:00

Men's Results - Team
1. Waubonsee 25
2. ICC 47
3. Harper College 68
4. Sauk Valley Community College 117
5. College of Lake County 148
6. Carl Sandburg 175
7. Prairie State 176
8. Joliet Junior College 190

Individuals: (66 finishers)
1. Jared Klein (Waubonsee) 28:09
4. Jaquaileon Smith (ICC) 28:24
6. Shane Leiby 28:54
10. Cory Shoopman 29:17
13. Nick Leiby 29:28
14. Josh Battles 29:34
16. Robert Deatherage 29:40
21. Kyle Lueken 30:21
27. Bobby Widick 31:24
28. Matt McKinney 31:37
39. Brock Kingsland 33:04
48. Michael Robinson 35:03

Carius Record Leads Women to 2nd at Benedictine

Brittany Carius won a spirited duel with Lauren Hooks of North Central and set a course record in the process as the ICC women placed 5 in the top 20 and took second to NC in the Benedictine University Eagle Invitational. Despite running on a soggy course, her time of 23:07.6 set a course, school, and personal record. Kayla Christ, Alyssa Imig, Raven Pettry, and Michelle Carter provided excellent backup in placing 9th, 11th, 12th, and 20th respectively. The team score of 50 trailed North Central's 33, but edged Elmhurst College's 54 for second. The three teams dominated the individual and team scoring. Eleven complete teams scored.

The men's team also ran well to finish 6th in the 18 team field, second to Waubonsee in the community college competition. Shane Leiby again led the Cougars with a 10th place finish. JQ Smith also medalled in 18th place. Josh Battles, Nick Leiby, and Kyle Lueken completed the scoring.

The team next competes on Saturday, October 17 at the Sauk Valley Invite where the men have a chance of redemption against Waubonsee.

Cougars Come up "Short" at Augi Invite

Both the men's and women's cross country teams came up short in their quest to meet the challenge of the strong Iowa Central teams at the Brissman/Lundeen Cross Country Invitational hosted by Augustana College at Credit Island Park yesterday.

The men, running without an injured Frederick Kiprono, finished 14th of 26 teams overall and 3rd in the Junior College division behind Iowa Central and North Iowa Area CC. Shane Leiby was the top ICC finisher in 51st place with a time of 26:48, just 13 seconds over his PR. JQ Smith in 66th place and Josh Battles in 115th also were near their personal bests. Robert Deatherage moved into the 5th team position with his best showing of the year.

On the women's side, not only did the Cougars come up short in finishing second behind 4th ranked Iowa Central, but the race itself ended up 580 meters short when the lead vehicle took a wrong turn. Despite that, Brittany Carius became the first ICC runner to place in the top 25 in the meet with her 24th place finish. Running in 17th for most of the race, she was caught by surprise by the short race, and dropped back in the last 200 meters. The team finished 10th of the 21 teams - second in the JC division. Michelle Carter, Alyssa Imig, Kayla Christ, and Raven Pettry all finished within 10 places and 11 seconds of each other to complete the scoring.

The Cougars now face a well-deserved week off from competition before next competing in the Benedictine Eagle Invite in Lisle, IL on October 9, where both the men's and women's teams are defending Junior College division champions.