University of Illinois
Notre Dame Invitational
Jason Bill Leads The Illini In His Season Debut
September 29, 2006 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 29, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini took eleventh place at the 51st running of the Notre Dame Invitational Friday evening in South Bend, Ind. after a rough start hindered the hopes of the Orange and Blue. Seven out of the Illini's nine runners were caught in a course pile-up on the first turn of Notre Dame's course less than a quarter of a mile into the race.
Although scratched and bruised, the Fighting Illini kept their competitive edge and battled back to regain position in the pack. Senior Jason Bill, who red-shirted last season, led the Orange and Blue with his ninth-place finish. Bill, one of the Illinois runners to escape the pile-up, turned in a solid performance in his first race back this season with a time of 24:02.
Freshman Jeremy Stevens crossed the finish line second for Illinois and 32nd overall. Stevens, who found himself taken back by the pile-up at the opening of the race, fought back to finish with an 8K personal best time of 24:33.
Junior Trent Hoerr and senior Maciej Sniegorski finished with tying times of 25:17 at 87th place. Freshman Rob Pykosz crossed the finish line with a time of 25:26, with junior Dan Stock closely following at 25:33. Rounding out the top seven was junior Matt Flaherty, who ended the race in a time of 25:39.
Other finishers for the Illini were junior Michael Kelley and freshman Jacob Nachel, with times of 25:50 and 26:28, respectively.
NC State took the title with 86 points, followed by Providence with 109 and Michigan with 123. Notre Dame and Florida tied for fourth place with 160 points, followed closely by Florida State with 165 points.
Although the finishing outcome was not what the team expected, head coach Wendel McRaven talked about how the experience they gained from racing against multiple nationally-ranked teams will be beneficial near the end of the season.
"Our goal was to battle and place in the top five," said McRaven. "Eleventh was not where we wanted to be, but we can think about the outcome one of two ways. We could hang our heads and think that a bad thing happened to us, or we can keep working hard and get ready for the weeks that matter at the end of the year."
Coach McRaven and his squad will return in racing action next Saturday, October 7 when they travel to Carbondale, Ill. for the Saluki Invitational.
Illini Results:
9. Jason Bill (1) - 24:02
32. Jeremy Stevens (2) - 24:33
87. Trent Hoerr (3) - 25:17
87. Maciej Sniegorski (3) - 25:17
100. Rob Pykosz (5) - 25:26
108. Dan Stock (6) - 25:33
115. Matt Flaherty (7) - 25:39
127. Michael Kelley (8) - 25:50
150. Jacob Nachel (9) - 26:28
