The Redbird men pose with their hardware after snagging the program's first MVC cross country team title since 2002. MVC Runner of the Year Kevin Koski won the individual race, punching his ticket to the NCAA cross country championships.
Redbird runners continued to make history this week at the Missouri Valley Conference cross country championships.
The Illinois State men’s cross country team won their first MVC team title since 2002. They won convincingly with four runners finishing in the top-five overall on Wednesday at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course in Evansville, Indiana.
The Redbird men finished with a team score of 24 points, with fifth-year senior Kevin Koski leading the pack. Koski finished the 8-kilometer circuit in a time of 24:21.1 to win the individual title by 11 seconds over Drake’s Adam Fogg. Koski is the first MVC champion for ISU since Scott Krapf won in 2009. With his win, Koski took home MVC Athlete of the year honors and will be competing in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Kimathi Johnson, Charlie Wetzel and Jack Anstey followed Koski. Johnson finished third overall, just edging out his teammates as the threesome finished within .02 seconds of each other. Wetzel’s fourth place finish earned him MVC Freshman of the Year honors, as he was the first newcomer to cross the finish line. All three Redbirds picked up their first All-Valley honors of their careers.
Jake Gillum rounded out the men’s scoring five, placing 11th for his first All-Valley Honorable Mention honors. Tyler Klouda (14) also picked up his first MVC honors.
Freshman Mathis Chavand and junior Matt Blanco finished in the top-25 for ISU with Chavand getting 18th overall in the first race of his ISU career and Blanco finishing 21st.
Head coach Jeff Bovee was named the MVC men’s cross country Coach of the Year, adding to his accolades earned this weekend on the indoor track. The team title was just the tenth in ISU history and first in the last 19 years.
Bradley finished second as a team with 70 points, with Drake rounding out the top-three teams with 76 points.
In the women’s race, the Redbirds finished fourth overall with 96 points, two points away from third place, Drake (94).
Rachel Hickey led the women’s charge, finishing in the top-15 for the third time in her cross country career. Hickey placed 12th overall with an 18:15.3 and earned All-Valley Honorable Mention honors.
The remainder of the Redbird scorers all finished in the top-25 with an impressive 41-second split between the top five runners. Junior Maddi Exline posted her highest finish ever at an MVC cross country championship meet. Exline finished with a time of 18:28.5, which was good for 17th overall.
Freshmen Ashley Heagy (18:44.0), Ailey Mitchell (18:52.7) and redshirt-freshman Emma Argo (18:56.6) finished within a few places of each other Heagy led the grouping in 20th, with Mitchell coming in at 22nd and Argo finishing 25th.
Loyola won their second consecutive team title with a dominant 26 points over runner-ups Bradley with 52 points. Reigning individual champion Anneka Murrin from Loyola bested the field, covering the 5-kilometer course in 16:55.3.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.