University of Illinois
Greater Louisville Classic
Greater Louisville Classic on Tap for Illini XC
September 28, 2017 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Meet begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. central time
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Coming off of a successful Battle in Beantown meet last weekend, the Fighting Illini are back in action on Saturday at the 16th annual Greater Louisville Classic. The meet is one of the biggest cross country meets in the country, as 142 colleges and universities from 30 states and Canada. Held at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky, the men's race will begin at 8:30 a.m. central time (9:30 a.m. local) with the women's race to follow at 9:15 a.m.
| Greater Louisville Classic | |
|---|---|
| When | Saturday, September 30 |
| Where | E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park // Louisville, Ky. |
| Meet Information | Meet Notes | Results | Team Entries | Course Maps |
| Men's Information | Performance Lists | Media Guide | Quick Facts |
| Women's Information | Performance Lists | Media Guide | Quick Facts |
| Social Media | @IlliniMXC @IlliniWXC  | #Illini | @Illinimxc @illiniwxc  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
Meet Information
Running for the Illini
A Look At The Competition
Illinois will again race against some of the top teams in the country, as Saturday's meet features five ranked teams in the men's race and three on the women's side. The 19th-ranked Illini men will be pitted against defending NCAA champion, and top-ranked, Northern Arizona, as well as defending Big Ten champion No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 12 Furman and No. 26 Boise State. On the women's side the Illini will see No. 13 Boise State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 20 Minnesota and No. 29 Furman. Additionally, power five schools Auburn, Kentucky, Louisville, Marquette, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina and Purdue are also entered.
Coach Stewart and Coach Haveman on the Women's Race
"The women will use this race to continue to evolve as a team and individuals. There are many positives that we can take from our race in Boston, but we will need to continue to mature and put together complete races. With the consistency and confidence they have been showing the last few weeks, I'm confident they will continue to make progress with each race."
Coach Stewart and Coach Haveman on the Men's Race
"With each opportunity the men are committed to establishing the program they want; they are very focused and confident and are consistently bringing great energy to everything they are doing. Louisville will be another great opportunity to work on things they have identified as areas they can improve upon, while continuing to stay within who we are and what we do well."
Illini Notes
Jesse Reiser Named Big Ten Athlete of the Week
On Wednesday, the Big Ten conference named Jesse Reiser its Athlete of the Week. The honor comes on the heels of an individual title at the Battle in Beantown for the Illini junior. Reiser won the race with the second-fastest 8K of his career (24:12), edging sophomore teammate Jon Davis (24:13) who took second.
Last Time Out
The 27th ranked men's squad had one of their best races under Coach Stewart, placing second at the Battle in Beantown behind No. 3 Syracuse while defeating No. 21 Indiana by 50 points. Jesse Reiser won his first individual collegiate title, timing 24:12 to edge out teammate Jon Davis (24:13), who took second place, and Syracuse All-Americans Colin Bennie and Philo Germano.
Illini Men Ranked Nationally
The Fighting Illini men's cross country team jumped eight spots in this week's USTFCCCA poll, climbing to No. 19 nationally. It's the highest ranking for the program since after the 2015 Big Ten Championships when they finished runner-up. The Illini also moved up in the regional rankings, surpassing Iowa State for No. 2 in the Midwest.
Craddock Leading Illini in First Season
Freshmen Rebecca Craddock has wasted no time in contributing, as the Brunswick, Ohio native has led the Illini in each of her first two collegiate races. In addition to leading the Illini, the newcomer has lowered her 5K personal-record in each race. After timing 17:58 at Eastern Illinois, Craddock shaved five seconds off (17:53) in Boston to place fourth among all freshmen.
Fighting Illini Begin First Season As Combined Program
Following the consolidation of the Illinois cross country and track programs, Jake Stewart has been charged with leading both the men's and women's distance programs. Now in his sixth season at Illinois, Stewart led the men's team for the previous five years and most recently led the squad to its first NCAA Cross Country Championship appearance in 30 years. Sarah Haveman joins the staff as an assistant coach after spending five years coaching at Dayton.
Illini Men Bring Championship Experience
Not only did the Illini advance to NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time since 1986, placing 23rd, the group did so with a lineup mainly comprised of underclassmen. The Illini are just one of four teams to return five or more runners from last year's NCAA lineup, tying Iowa State and Virginia and just one behind Southern Utah's six returners. Each of the five Illini back in 2017 have two years of eligibility remaining, including Jon Davis and Zach Dale who are only entering their sophomore season.
Branching Out
Leading a young women's squad in the first year under Coach Stewart will be senior Denise Branch. Having finished first or second on the team in every race she competed in last fall, Branch will look to build a foundation for success in 2017 and beyond. Branch's best time of the season came at the Iowa Regional Preview meet last October where her personal-record 6,000m time of 21:19 helped lead the Illini to the team title. The Brooklyn, New York native carried that success into the track season where she set new personal-best times in the mile, 1500m, 3,000m and 5,000m.
Illini Women Feature 16 Underclassmen
With the change in leadership on the women's side, the team itself will also look new with 10 incoming freshman joining the team this fall to go along with six returning sophomores. Delaney Appino, Alana Austin, Madeline Bruce, Kelli Callahan, Nicki Cast, Rebecca Craddock, Caroline Fix, Mikaela Lucki, Allison McGrath and Katie Stapleton all begin their Illini careers this fall.
Up Next
After back-to-back races, the Fighting Illini will step away from competition to begin October. Following the week off, the Orange and Blue will travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the Ed Nuttycombe Invite on Friday, October 14. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. central time with the women's race to follow at 11:40 a.m.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini cross country, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniMXC and @IlliniWXC) and Instagram (@IlliniMXC and @IlliniWXC) and like Fighting Illini Men's Cross Country and Fighting Illini Women's Cross Country on Facebook.
