By Jami Sponaugle
Warrenville, Illinois - Multiple Personal Records were broken on Saturday when the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men’s and women’s cross country team competed at the Gil Dodds Invitational hosted by Wheaton College. At the St. James Forest Preserve course, the men’s team took 13th out of 17 in the 8K while the women placed 17th out of 18 in the 6K.
Scarlet Hawk Women’s Top Three Finishers
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Sophia Halama raced a PR time of 27:30 to finish in 165th.
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Hayley Blanton wasn’t far behind, placing 177th with a time of 28:20
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Annika McKown remained close, finishing in 188th with a PR time of 29:13
Scarlet Hawk Men’s Top Three Finishers
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Joey Loriso led the Scarlet Hawks with a time of 28:15.4 to earn 101st place.
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Alejandro Torres trailed Loriso, earning 108th with a time of 28:24.1 for a PR.
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Nicholas Quigley came in right behind Torres with a time of 28:25.0 for 109th place.
Head Coach Tyler McQuality’s Comments
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"We took a big step forward and the things we wanted to improve on from the first 2 races were evident. We run this course every year so it will be great for our young roster to be able to showcase their growth in the future as well. Ethan Phillips and Annika McKown had really big breakthrough races and Alejandro Torres had a big PR. We are excited to have the coming week off from competition to get some really good training that will benefit us for the end of the season.”
Assistant Coach Kasey Jones Comments
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“The team was told to take risks and test their limits and that they did! Across the board they got out of their comfort zone and it paid off in a big way! Several PR’s and huge smiles while they did it, what else could you ask for! It was a great weekend!”
Up Next
The Hawks get some rest before returning to competition on October 1st to compete at The Ranger Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin - Parkside on the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, WI. The men and women will begin their races at 11 a.m.