PEORIA, Ill. – The Illinois State University Cross Country team finished it's races at the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional meet Friday afternoon in Peoria, Ill.

Fifth-year William Sinclair qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet following his ninth-place finish with a mark of 29.19.99. Sinclair captured the school record in the 10k and now holds Illinois State's 8k and 10k records. Sinclair also became the first Redbird in school history to run a 10k under 30 minutes.

Senior Mathis Chavand ran the second-fastest time in program history, 30:02.82, on his way to a top-25 finish and earning All-Region honors. Senior Zack Loomis recorded a time of 30:15.02, the fourth-fastest time in program history, on his way to a 32nd finish. Junior Yusuf Baig finished 41st with a time of 30.30.30, which is now the seventh-fastest mark in program history.

The men's squad earned a fourth-place finish with a total of 179. The fourth place finish was the highest finish for the Redbirds in the Midwest Regional since 2001 where Illinois State finished in sixth-place.

The women's team finished 19th with a point total of 532. Senior Mattison Plummer led Illinois State with a 52nd-place finish and a mark of 20:56.86. Junior Maggie Reed followed Plummer with a time of 21:27.02 to finish 95th. Senior Lauren Schulze finished in 112th with a mark of 21:39.27.

Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee on the men's race…

 It was the race of the year for the guys. Our first four did exactly what they've been doing all season long. Super proud of the whole crew. The big difference for us today was Nick Doud as our fifth guy stepped up. His last race as a senior he put it together. He started off, kind of slow, but he built into it his second half of the race. He probably improved about 30-40 spots. That sealed it up for us to get in that top five. Proud of Sinclair, he's just been getting better every single race out. He put it together today to smash our all-time school record. Mathis broke the old record as well and I'm proud of him. He's been dealing with his injury for the last few weeks and the 10k is a long race, especially when you haven't been able to run on the ground. That's just an incredible effort by him. A great team effort to get four guys up there in that top 40 range is fantastic.

Assistant Coach Jake Gillum on the men's race…

On the men's side was a super high-energy race. All our entire team ran PRs, our average time was close to a school record. I think in with a little chip on their shoulder, a little something to prove after the conference meet in a region like this. We were trying to prove ourselves. We don't get to race a lot of the Illinois schools all the time. To get a stage to see who's the best on the day was super cool for them. They responded to that. For Will to make national is super cool and Mathis earning All-Region, he's worked hard for that. Nick Doud our fifth guy, he's struggled a lot this year. He's put in a lot of work and has never really seen it pay off as it should, until this race. Super excited for him. 

Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee on the women's race…

The women had a couple of seniors out there. We appreciate all the wonderful years they put together for us, Lauren (Schulze), Kaitlin Skeate, and (Mattison) Plummer. They've just been super consistent for us all year, and we certainly didn't finish as high as we were hoping there on the women's side but we got a real good foundation, heading into the track season, and looking forward to a great track season from both teams.

Assistant Coach Jake Gillum on the women's race…

On the women's side, I was proud of our seniors for coming out, and giving everything they got. Some had a little bit better results shakeout than the conference meet so definitely a move in the right direction. 

AWARD WINNERS

Men's All-Region

• William Sinclair
• Mathis Chavand

WOMEN'S 6K RESULTS- 19th Place (532 points)

52. Mattison Plummer, 20:56.86 // 95. Maggie Reed, 21:27.02 // 112. Lauren Schulze, 21:39.27 // 119. Astrid Van Breedam, 21:48.13 // 160. Grace Erb, 22:28.34 // 201. Kaitlin Skeate, 23:07.54 // Trixie Johnson, 23:36.47 

MEN'S 8K- 4th Place (179 points)

9. William Sinclair, 29:19.99  (SR)  // 25. Mathis Chavand, 30:02.82 (PR) // 32. Zack Loomis, 30:15.92 (PR) // 41. Yusuf Baig, 30:30.30 (PR) // 78. Nick Doud, 31:02.59 (PR) // 102. Blake Oleson (PR) // 118. Julian Baker, 31:37.22