The Western Illinois men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Friday morning, running at the Gans Creek Invitational in Columbia, Missouri. The meet is hosted by Missouri and begins with the men's 8k Division I race at 9 a.m. The women's Division I race follows.
"Our team is very excited for the competition on Friday," WIU coach Trey Brokaw said. "We've put in a lot of quality work all summer and the last few weeks of training have gone exceptionally well. I anticipate some great individual and team performances this weekend down in Columbia."
The Western Illinois men and women are joined by teams from Baylor, Creighton, Drake, Eastern Washington, Illinois, Illinois State, Illinois-Chicago, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, UMKC, Lindenwood, Lipscomb, Missouri, Minnesota, Murray State, North Florida, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Omaha, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, South Dakota, Southern Illinois and Weber State as well as individuals from Bradley and Nebraska.
The Leathernecks are led by Logan Lommel and Paulina Wuestefeld, who have had the top finishes for Western Illinois' in their first two competitions.
"Logan Lommel and Paulina Wuestefeld both led our teams the last two competitions," Brokaw said. "They've been exceptional leaders for our group this fall and I look forward to seeing how they do against some very good competition this weekend. Logan has been balancing student teaching along with his cross country obligations this semester. That isn't easy but he still managed to run the No. 4 8k time (24:38) in school history at Bradley two weeks ago; that was his first ever 8k race."
In such a large meet, depth will also be a factor, giving Western a chance to challenge each runner on the roster this weekend.
"We have some great runners up front on the men's and women's teams; having dependable depth is what we need to focus on before the post-season," Brokaw said of his squad. "Freshman Aylana Cezar and sophomore Maleigha Huston have provided a great two-three punch on the women's side. Olin Ortiz has completely transformed as a student-athlete in the past year, and is a great number two runner behind Logan on the men's side. Freshmen Jace Green and Caleb Ware have given us a great three-four that should be competitive at the Summit League Championships. Finding a number five runner on each side is the key to team success."
Original source can be found here.
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