@IlliniMXC Place 2nd at B1G Championships

Sunday, November 1

Chicago, IL

10:45 AM CT

University of Illinois

B1G Championships

November 1, 2015 | Men's Cross Country

Best Team Finish in 26 Years; Lafond Takes 3rd

Full Results

CHICAGO, ILL. – On a crisp fall afternoon by the waters of Lake Michigan, Head Coach Jake Stewart's harriers ran the best Big Ten Championships meet the school has seen since 1989, placing second as a team. The group of nine completed the day with 81 points, the best since the 1987 meet, led by Dylan Lafond's school-record 8K mark of 23:22.4.

"We ran the way we've been capable of running all year," said Coach Stewart. "I've truly felt that this was a performance coming at some point this fall. The guys just went out and did it. They put themselves in the race from the get-go, and really ran with some purpose. I think we are all elated, and we're all really happy, but I think we all know that this was something we were capable of doing."

For the third consecutive meet, Lafond turned in a personal-best performance, obliterating the 8K school record, 23:39.0 by Trent Hoerr in 2007, by almost 17 seconds and earning All-Conference status. The third place finish was also the best finish since 2007, matching the performance by Hoerr at the 2007 Big Ten Championships.

"It was nice being in a smaller race, said Lafond. "The past two races, Wisconsin and Louisville, were bigger races. I kind of found myself not at the right spot at the beginning of the race. Big Ten [Championships,] it's a smaller race, and I found myself out in front where I thought I should be. There were some strong moves made from the guys at the front and I latched on. I ran really well today; I'm very confident in my individual performance and the team."

The next Illini to come through the chute was freshman Jesse Reiser, turning in the best freshman time at this year's race with an 11^th place finish with a time of 23:52.4, good for Second Team All-Conference recognition and a spot on the school's All-Time top-10 list. In just his third month on campus, Reiser has impressed his head coach and himself with his ability to adapt to the college level and rise above early season adversity.

"This is hard," said Stewart. "This is the transition from your high school, three mile race to an 8K as a true freshman, it's not easy. We talked a lot about that, and we talked about trusting that each race is going to get a little bit better. He came away from Wisconsin, two weeks ago, feeling a lot better about what's going on. He wanted top-ten, he just missed it, but he rose to the occasion today."

Ian Barnett turned in his best 8K mark in his career at Illinois, clocking in at 23:58.0, tied for seventh in school history, and 18^th overall as the third Illini finisher. Right on his heels was arguably the best closing performance of the race by Dan Lathrop. Lathrop raced to the finish line to nab a top-20 finish, coming in at 24:01.4, and best his personal-best time.

"You put a Dan close to anybody late; he's going to close like it's his job," said Stewart. "Dan can really close; it's just a matter of keeping our gaps close, and not having to do too much work to close the way we want him to. We know he can close like that, it's just a matter of where he's going to be when he starts closing it, and he did a good job of putting himself in a good spot late in the race."

Also closing strong were Liam Markham (29^th/24:12.0) and Billy Magnesen (30th/24:13.0) who passed more than ten runners in the final lap. Rounding out the point scorers was Zack Smith who came through 44^th overall, besting his personal-record 8K time with a 24:33.7 mark.

Rounding out the nine runners today were Paul Zeman (50^th/24:40.0) and Alex Gold (65^th/24:52.4).

"We're really strong. The baseline of our program is getting aerobically strong and getting the work in. We put a lot of work in on surfaces like this to get prepared and simulate what it's going to be like today. We just went out and ran to our best, and I couldn't be happier for them."

Up next for the Orange and Blue is the NCAA Midwest Regional in two weeks where they will aim to qualify for NCAA Championships for the first time since 1986.

TEAM SCORES (out of 12):