Redbird Cross Country is set for NCAA Regionals

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Illinois State cross country teams are set to compete in the 2023 Midwest Regional hosted by the University of Oklahoma State at the Greiner Family OSU Cross County Course.

The women’s 6,000-meter race begins at 10:30 a.m. (CT), while the men’s 10,000-meter race goes off an hour later.

THE FIELD

There will be 32 schools competing in the women’s cross country championship, and 27 on the men’s, including Bradley (m,w), Creighton (m,w), DePaul (m,w), Drake (m,w), Eastern Illinois (m,w), Illinois (m,w), Illinois State (m,w), UIC (m,w), Iowa (m,w), (#18 w)(#20 m) Iowa State (m,w), Kansas (m,w), Loyola Ill. (m,w), Minnesota (m,w), Missouri (m,w), Missouri State (m,w), Nebraska (m,w), North Dakota (m,w), North Dakota state (m,w), Northwestern (m,w), Oklahoma (m,w), (#5 w)(#2 m)Oklahoma State (m,w), Omaha (m,w), SE Missouri (m,w), SIU Edwardsville (m,w), Saint Louis (m,w), South Dakota (m,w), South Dakota State (m,w), Southern Illinois (m,w), Tulsa (m,w), Wichita State (m,w)

LAST TIME AT THE EVENT

At the 2022 Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Missouri, The Redbird women placed 14th while the men took 13th in the field of 32 and 27 teams.

Four Redbird men set personal-bests, with the remaining three runners running in their first collegiate 10k. Baptiste Tardiveau’s time of 30:43.0 placed him 60th in the deep field in his first time running a collegiate 6.2-mile race.

 Charlie Wetzel placed 119th for the Redbirds in a time of 31:29.9, over a minute better than his previous lowest 10k time, as Tyler Polak’s 31:39.8 was just under two minutes better than his previous best at the distance, placing 127th. Freshman Yusuf Baig took 167th in a time of 32:22.9.

Mattison Plummer had a 54-second personal best in breaking the 22-minute barrier for the first time in her career, placing third on the team and 98th in the field with a time of 21:46.2.  Claire Fuhlhage rounded out the scoring five for the Redbirds in a time of 22:16.3, placing 138^th, while  Lauren Schulze (156th, 22:36.0) rounded out the seven Redbird runners in the field of 233 competitors.

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – WOMEN

 Grace Erb (Fr.) // Claire Fuhlhage (Gr.) // Viviana Sanflippo (Jr.) // Colleen Zeibert (Fr.) // Maggie Reed (So.)  // Mattison Plummer (Jr.) // Lauren Schulze (Jr.) // Kaitlin Skeate (Jr.)

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – MEN

 Yusuf Baig (So.) // Mathis Chavand (r-Jr.) // Ethan Reynoso (Fr.) // Zack Loomis (Jr.) // Dylan Myers (Fr.) // Baptiste Tardiveau (Sr.) // Charlie Wetzel (Jr.) // Nick Doud (Gr.) // Blake Oleson (Fr.)

FOLLOW LIVE

Keep track of the Redbirds at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship on Friday morning by clicking the link HERE. Watch here

UP NEXT

November 18th is the NCAA National Championship, hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The first race is set to start at 11:00 am ct.

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