Elmhurst, IL - The Men's and Women's cross country teams traveled to Elmhurst, Illinois on Friday, September 3rd to compete in the Early Bird Invitational hosted by Elmhurst University at Eldridge Park. 

The men got the meet started and ultimately finished third to North Central College and Carthage College totaling 115 points. Pacing the Scarlet Hawk's was junior Julian Go who finished in a time of 20:52, which was good for 35th. Following close behind Go was a string of first-year Scarlet Hawks: Naftali Bojdak-Yates, Ethan Phillips, and Joseph Loriso in 37th, 39th, and 48th respectively. 

"I thought the men accomplished our main objective today of having this serve the purpose as a rust buster and a first collegiate cross country race for our freshman and for our returners, their first one in almost 2 years" said Head Coach Tyler McQuality. "I am excited by what I saw from our freshmen as they continue to transition to collegiate training and racing. This was an excellent first benchmark and we will learn from it and apply it to the 8k's in the coming weeks!"

The women were paced by first-year runner Hayley Blanton, who recorded a 26th place  finish in 17:01, a strong debut race in an Illinois Tech uniform. Also competing for the Scarlet Hawks was senior Zoey Krevitz, who placed 90th in a time of 20:41. 

Assistant Coach Kasey Jones said: "This meet was a perfect way for the team to start the season. Whether they are a freshman or a returner this was the first Cross Country race in quite a while and they didn't hold back! I'm impressed with how both teams executed their race plans and left it all out there on the course. They set the bar high and I'm excited to see what the rest of the season holds!" 

The coming week is a trip to Concordia University Wisconsin for the Ken Weidt Invitational on Saturday, September 11th to preview the NACC Championships course. The NACC Championships are scheduled for late October.