VU Cross Country closes out regular season on a high note at Bradley Pink Classic
PEORIA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams took part in their final tune up before postseason competition begins at the Bradley Pink Classic Friday afternoon. Several Trailblazers set new personal best times as the VU teams look to really be rounding into shape at the right time. The day began with the VU women’s team running a 6k race instead of their normal 5k that they have been running all season.
PEORIA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams took part in their final tune up before postseason competition begins at the Bradley Pink Classic Friday afternoon.
Several Trailblazers set new personal best times as the VU teams look to really be rounding into shape at the right time.
The day began with the VU women's team running a 6k race instead of their normal 5k that they have been running all season.
Vincennes was led in the women's race by sophomore Brittany Page (Freelandville, Ind.) who finished with a time of 25:39.9.
Page was followed closely behind by freshman Ada Peterman (Clay, Ill.) and sophomore Daisie Kinnett (Wheatland, Ind.). Peterman crossed the line with a time of 25:53.6 and Kinnett ended with a time of 26:12.5.
Sophomore Hope Laughlin (Olney, Ill.) was the fourth VU runner to finish, ending at the 26:47.3 mark.
Freshman Makenna Pruett rounded out the VU women's runners, ending the race with a time of 27:39.2.
The VU women's team finished 17th out of 22 teams Friday, placing ahead of four-year schools like McKendree and NCAA Division I program Chicago State.
"We had great races from both teams today," VU Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "The women ran an off distance of 6k instead of the usual 5k. Brittany and Hope both PR'd and the other three ran their first 6k ever."
"Makenna and Hope did really well, coming through 5k faster than any of their previous races this year," Steigenga added. Then they still had 4-5 more minutes race left. The top three also did well running together for most of the meet."
The VU men's team finished off the day with a very impressive outing of their own, led by sophomore Mathew Keitany who placed 10th overall with a time of 25:29.7.
Keitany was followed by freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) and sophomore Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.). Stanford finished with a time of 26:22.4 and Momodu ended at 27:09.1.
Sophomores Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya) and Reed Lawless (Kouts, Ind.) closed out the VU top-five finishers, with Boit ending at 27:24.0 and Lawless crossing the line at 27:39.1.
Sophomore Trenton Faulkner (Wheatland, Ind.) and Freshman Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) were the next Blazer runners to finish, with Faulkner ending at 28:07.8 and Gray finishing at 28:30.0.
Freshmen Sol O'Blenis (Amboy, Ind.), Griffin Worzella (Martinsville, Ind.) and Brayden Green (Sumner, Ill.) were the next group to finish, with O'Blenis finishing with a time of 28:33.6, Worzella at 30:11.1 and Green at 30:44.5.
Sophomore Kyle Baugh (Portage, Ind.) closed out the day for the Trailblazers after crossing the line with a time of 32:48.8.
The VU men's team placed 8th out of 18 teams, placing ahead of NCAA Division I programs Illinois State and Chicago State and just behind Division I Eastern Illinois and Purdue-Fort Wayne.
"The men followed the women's great start with a solid performance of their own," Steigenga said. "Eight of the 11 men running set PR's. Mathew led the way with a breakout performance, running 45 seconds faster than his race two weeks ago. Mathew ran a fantastic race. He started out in 51st place and moved up to 10th. He looked as smooth and focused as I've ever seen him."
"Isaac ran a 25-second PR," Steigenga added. "Ernst just missed his PR by five seconds. Ian stepped up in a big way, running one minute and 16 seconds faster than two weeks ago. Reed ran less than a second faster to PR today. The gap between our 3-5 runners was much better today than in the first three meets of the year. There was only 30 seconds separating them compared to one minute and 33 seconds in Louisville."
The Trailblazer teams will now look to keep up this pace as they prepare to begin postseason competition Thursday, Oct. 27 with the NJCAA Region 24 Cross Country Championships hosted at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.
The women's Region Championship race is set to begin at 3 p.m. eastern with the men's race to follow at 3:45 p.m. eastern.
"We did a great job today of setting ourselves up to run well at the Regional and National meets in the next few weeks," Steigenga said.
TEAM RESULTS
Women's Team – 17th
Men's Team – 8th
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
WOMEN'S RESULTS
Brittany Page (111) – 25:39.9
Ada Peterman (116) – 25:53.6
Daisie Kinnett (124) – 26:12.5
Hope Laughlin (137) – 26:47.3
Makenna Pruett (157) – 27:39.2
MEN'S RESULTS
Mathew Keitany (10) – 25:29.7
Isaac Stanford (41) – 26:22.4
Ernest Momodu (67) – 27:09.1
Ian Boit (76) – 27:24.0
Reed Lawless (87) – 27:39.1
Trenton Faulkner – 28:07.8
Matthew Gray – 28:30.0
Sol O'Blenis – 28:33.6
Griffin Worzella – 30:11.1
Brayden Green – 30:44.5
Kyle Baugh – 32:48.8