Syracuse, New York - The Scarlet Hawks competed this past weekend at the USCAA Cross Country Nationals, held in Syracuse N.Y. and hosted by SUNY ESF. The event provided a great measuring stick as the competition was fierce with 27 schools competing for individual and team trophies. It was Illinois Tech's first showing at this meet and they set a good mark on both the men's and women's sides.
The men's team finished 5th in tough snowy and muddy conditions. The course was the hardest course the Hawks have run all year and the men put up a brave effort managing to place high in the team competition. Sam Wielspach was, as he has been all season long, the number one runner. He ran a gutsy race and he tried to go for the win. After one mile into the race Wielspach and the runner that ended up second separated from the field and had a good 50m gap on the field. Unfortunately after going out so fast and running with a fever, Wielspach faded and managed to finish 10th. "I think Sam ran the toughest race of his life. He was looking really fatigued after 2 miles into the race and I presumed he might stop but he once again proved how tough of a runner he is and grinded out the rest of the race managing to still gain second team All-American honors" said head coach Calin Hantau.
The second scorer was Landon Vowels who ran a lot better than he has all season. He placed 19th after facing some setbacks in the past year. "Landon raced very well and I believe that if he stays injury free and consistent, he can fight for a top 3 place individually next year" said assistant coach Raul Botezan.
The Hawks 3-4-5 scorers for Illinois Tech were Quentin Shipley, Adam Becker and Ryan Melersky.
"We will have the top 7 return next year and if we can all make incremental improvements we can become a treat for a trophy come November 2015," said Hantau.