NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Cross Country team is set to travel to Peoria, Ill. to compete at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Midwest Regional, on Friday morning, at the Newman Golf Course. The event begins at 11 a.m. with the women's 6,000-meter race, while the men's 10,000-meter race follows at 12:00 p.m. 

THE FIELD

The field consists of 36 teams including schools from conferences such as the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, American, MAC, A10, OVC, and the MVC.

LAST TIME AT THE MIDWEST REGIONAL

In the Redbirds' last appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Midwest Regionals Senior Mattison Plummer finished 73rd at 22:04.4. Senior Mathis Chavand earned NCAA All-Region honors with a 17th-place finish with a mark of 30:59.5. Chavand was the highest finisher of all MVC runners. 

MVC CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

Illinois State continued its historical season after its outing at the 2024 MVC Championship meet.  The Redbirds had six runners crack into the program's top-10 list which is the most at a single event in school history. The women's team earned a sixth-place finish with a point total of 126 while the men's team finished second with a point total of 51.

Mattison Plummer earned All-Valley honorable mention honors following her 11th-place finish. Plummer recorded the fastest 6k time in program history, 20:41.5. Junior Maggie Reed broke into the program's top-10 list with a time of 21:03.2, which currently sits seventh all-time.

Fifth-year William Sinclair claimed the individual title with a mark of 23:02.9, beating teammate Mathis Chavand's previous record of 23:20.9, set earlier in the season. Sinclair also became the school's first individual champion since Kevin Koski in 2021. Chavand finished second with a personal best time of 23:16.5. Senior Zack Loomis came home in fourth place with a time of 23:32.5 which now sits as the third fastest time in school history. Junior Yusuf Baig rounded out the top-10 with his 10th-place finish with a time of 23:51.0 which is now the fifth-fastest time in program history.

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – WOMEN

Grace Erb (So.) // Trixie Johnson (So.) // Mattison Plummer (Sr.) // Maggie Reed (Jr.) Lauren Schulze (Sr.) // Kaitlin Skeate (Sr.) // Astrid Van Breedam (Fr.)

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – MEN

Yusuf Baig (Jr.) // Julian Baker (Fr.) // Mathis Chavand (R-Sr.) // Nick Doud (Gr.)  //  Zack Loomis (Sr.) // Blake Oleson (So.) // William Sinclair (Gr.)