Cross Country looks to continue success at ISU
Kristen Rohrer runs ahead of Mallory Tharp of Lincoln College in the women’s portion of the Walt Crawford Invitational on Friday on the Panther Trail.
September 9, 2015
The Eastern men’s and women’s cross country teams will try to continue its recent success at the Illinois State Invite on Friday. The Panthers won both races last week at home, which is the only time they will have a home meet this season.
Expected runners for the Panthers women’s team include sophomore Maria Baldwin, junior Ivy Handley, Emily Brelsfoard and seniors Amy Yeoman and Victoria Quarton.
Baldwin won the first meet with a time of 18:03.48, while Handley and Brelsfoard rounded out the Panthers top five finishers with times of 18:42.01 and 18:48.89, respectively.
Baldwin represented the Panthers at last year’s Ohio Valley Conference championships, where she finished in 14th place. She earned the OVC Newcomer of the Year title, as well as a second-team All-OVC nod in her first year.
The men’s team is expected to have junior Riley McInerney, Paxson Menard, Greg Rogers, Tyler Yunk and sophomore Chris Orlow in their lineup for Friday. McInerney and Menard finished first and second in last week’s opener for the Panthers.
McInerney won the men’s race, which was shortened to four miles because of humidity concerns. His time of 20:05:06 was just ahead of Menard’s time 20:08.98. Rogers and Yunk also finished in the Top 10 with times of 20:56.24 and 21:05.36, respectively.
The host Redbirds took second place finishes in their first meet at Iowa last weekend. Junior Jeff Bajema led the men’s team with a time of 19:12.2 and finished second. The first place finisher for that race Zach Baker was only 2.6 seconds ahead of Bajema.
Baker ran unattached for the event.
Freshman Jonathan Lafayette and junior Brendan Hoskins were other Top 10 finishers for the Redbirds. Lafayette finished ninth with a time of 19:21.1, while Hoskins finished 10th with a time of 19:24.2
Illinois State’s women’s team also finished second, but had only one runner crack the Top 10. Sophomore Ashley England finished in 9th place with a time of 10:38.3.
The first race of the evening will take place at 5 p.m. in Normal.
Blake Nash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]
