Cross country team traveled to Normal Sept. 26 for the Heartland Invitational.
On the men’s side, freshman Dagen Setchell of Mendota continues to lead the Eagles with a time of 32:09 in the 8KM race. Following him were Erik Garcia (32:43), Christian Yepsen (33:55), Azael Vargas (36:10), and Kevin Rynke (36:12). The men’s team took 8th place.
Freshman Tatiana Serna led the Eagles’ women in the 5 KM race with a time of 23:39. She was followed by teammates Kailey Goetsch (27.41), Yovanna Reyes (28:21), Meghann Ostler (28:35), and Claire Durdan (29:44). The women’s team took 5th place.
“While we would have loved to place a little higher in the team scores, we saw some good things at the race, especially for our sophomores,” Matt Baker, IVCC head coach said.
“Christian has really been pushing himself to break under that 34-minute mark and he finally did it. Azael keeps making great strides forward, crushing his times from last year for the second week in a row. And Yovanna, who has been dealing with some little injuries, finally started showing signs of the speeds she was running last season. We’ll keep trying to build on this momentum.”
On Sept. 21, the team showed growth in the Gil Dodds Invitational hosted by Wheaton College at St. James Farm in Warrenville.
Facing off against primarily NCAA DIII teams, almost every member of the Eagles Cross Country team showed improvement over past performances.
The team races next at Sauk Valley Community College on Saturday, Oct. 5.