Men 6th, Women 14th At Bradley Classic

Saturday, October 17 2015 - Bradley Classic


Riley McInerney, Joe Calio, Maria Baldwin, and Ivy Handley post top performances. Jocelyne Mendoza sets new EIU freshman 6k record.
Men's Cross Country 2014 at OVC Meet
 
PEORIA, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois men's & women's cross country teams posted positive results at the Bradley Classic. Both units competed in the "Red" division in the classic, as the men's team finished in 6th place overall, while the women's team finished in 14th.

The EIU men were led by Riley McInerney and Joe Calio as both runners finished inside the top 30 runners in the classic. McInerney posted a time of 24:28.4 which was good enough for a 14th place finish. Calio finished a few minutes behind his teammate at a 24:49.3 mark.

Illinois finished as the top team in the competition with 70 points as they finished with three runners posting top 10 times. Nebraska earned second place honors with a team score of 107, followed by Iowa with 112, Illinois State 121, and Dayton 193 to round out the top five. The EIU men finished in sixth place in the classic with a team score of 202.

"We had 10 guys Under 26 minutes today and 6 under 25:30 and 3 sub 25 minutes. This hasn't happened at Eiu since at least the early 80s. They raced in a very quality field and competed every step of the way" said head coach Erin Howarth.

On the women's side Maria Baldwin and Ivy Handley led the Panthers to a 14th place finish in the Bradley Classic. Baldwin finished with the 34th best time in the competition finishing with a time of 21:31.0. Teammate Ivy Handley placed in the top 50 as well, as her time of 21:39.8 was 43rd best in the classic. Freshman, Jocelyne Mendoza finished with a time of 21:54.8 setting the new 6k freshman record at EIU.

Illinois State won the women's division with a team score of 162. Oakland finished in second place overall with a team score of 170. EIU totaled a team score of 304, finishing in 14th overall.

"Until today EIU women only had 6 women under 22 minutes in the 6k. Today in one race we had 4. Maria was one second off the school record and Jocelyne set the freshman 6k school record today, breaking the old school record by 15 seconds" finished Howarth.

The EIU men's & women's cross country teams are back in action October 23, at the Illini Open.