CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men’s and women’s cross country teams are ready for the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Friday, Nov. 10, at Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. The women’s 6k will begin first at 10:30 a.m. CT, and the men’s 10k will follow at 11:30 a.m. CT.
First-year head coach Helen Lehman-Winters has had some success in her first year at the helm. Both the men’s and women’s teams improved at the Big Ten Championships a couple weeks ago. The men placed fifth, which was their highest finish since 2017, and the women placed eighth, their highest since 2021.
The men’s team is led by senior Jack Roberts, who collected Second-Team All-Big Ten honors with his ninth-place finish (24:38.6) at the B1G Championships. He also crossed the tape first in three other races this year: the Illini Open (18:13.8), Gans Creek Classic (23:48.8) and Bradley Pink Classic (24:08.4).
Sophomore Alex Partlow narrowly missed All-Big Ten honors with his 15th-place finish at the B1G Championships (24:47.8) He never finished any lower than eighth during the regular season and finished as high as third at the Badger Classic (24:22.2).
The women’s team is led by junior Halle Hill, who finished 23rd (21:49.7) at the B1G Championships a 74-place improvement from 97th a year ago. She also finished top-six in three other races during the year. Junior Sam Poglitsch placed 22nd (21:47.5) at the B1G Championships, a 54-place improvement from last year.
B1G IMPROVEMENTS
Full list of Big Ten Championships improvements from the Illini under Lehman-Winters year one.
TEAM
Men: 6th > 5th
Women: 9th > 8th
MEN
Jack Roberts: 32nd > 9th
Alex Partlow: 69th > 15th
Anthony Maida: 88th > 29th
Brady Masters 49th > 42nd
WOMEN
Sam Poglitsch: 76th > 22nd
Halle Hill: 97th > 23rd
Maggie Gamboa: 89th > 49th
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