University of Illinois
Spartan Invite
@IlliniMXC Travels To Spartan Invite
September 17, 2015 | Men's Cross Country
Reiser Makes Collegiate Debut
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –
Meet PREVIEW
The Fighting Illini will travel to Big Ten country as they compete in East Lansing, Michigan at the Spartan Invite. The meet will be the largest that the Illini have faced all season. The meet is set to start at 12:20 p.m. central time on Friday, September 18.
Coach stewart on the Meet
"The guys that are opening up, who didn't run last week, that had been the plan all along. We came into the year with our depth as good as it's ever been. We wanted to try and give everybody an opportunity to be in a very competitive environment early on as we try to figure out what our lineup is going to look like for October and November. So we want those guys to get off to a good start. We want those guys to build off of what the guys did on Saturday, and look at what some of the guys did on Saturday and just trust that they're prepared to run in a similar fashion. The guys that are coming back from this past weekend, some of that was originally planned, and some of it is a decision based off of how they ran on Saturday. [Some of them] may not have ran as well as they would have hoped , but wanting to get some momentum and have a positive experience heading into October."
Illini Set to Run
Six days after running at the Bluegrass Invite, Jake Stewart will send a mix of competitors from last weekend along with some fresh legs to East Lansing. Sean Pengelly, first Illini to finish at the Bluegrass Invite, Paul Zeman and Dan Lathrop will look to build off of their first runs of the season. Illini Challenge individual champion, Jereme Atchison, will return to action along with Challenge runners Joe Cowlin, Jack Driggs and Liam Markham. Finally, making his Illini debut on Friday will be true freshman, and 2014 IHSA State Champion, Jesse Reiser.
LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
The Fighting Illini will be competing against over 30 schools on Friday at the Spartan Invite. Michigan State (Great Lakes No. 4) and Michigan (Great Lakes No. 3) headline the meet as the two other Big Ten competitors. Joining the Big Ten competition, Eastern Michigan (Great Lakes No. 5) and Central Michigan (Great Lakes No. 13) will also provide added competition to the field. Sean Pengelly's former school, Michigan Tech, will also be participating this Friday.
last time out
In the second meet of the season, the Illini sent seven runners to the Bluegrass Invite where they took third, falling closely behind Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky. The Orange and Blue were led by Sean Pengelly, making his Illinois debut, and redshirt freshmen Zack Smith and Billy Magnesen, all whom clocked top-10 finishes. Rounding out seven finishes for the Illini was Dan Lathrop (14th), Paul Zeman (16th), Garrett Lee (17th) and Alex Gold (30th).
2015 Bluegrass Invite - Illinois Results
5. Sean Pengelly, 24:35.9
6. Zack Smith, 24:37.5
9. Billy Magnesen, 24:48.3
14. Dan Lathrop, 24:56.2
16. Paul Zeman, 24:58.1
17. Garrett Lee, 25:00.7
30. Alex Gold, 25:31.8
2015 Bluegrass Invite - Team Results
1. Eastern Kentucky - 44
2. Kentucky - 47
3. ILLINOIS - 50
4. Miami (OH) - 98
5. Morehead State - 155
6. Northern Kentucky - 166
7. Bellarmine - 218
Up Next
On Friday, September 25 the Fighting Illini will travel in-state to Rock Island, Illinois for the Brissman-Lunden Invite at 5:45 pm.
