XC to Compete at Illinois State Invitational

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete in their second meet of the 2019 season on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Illinois State Invitational.

"The team has continued to buy into the training on a daily basis and I'm excited to see us go out and compete this weekend," interim head coach Sean Birren said. "We have a good group that brings a lot of different things to the table, both running-wise and personality-wise."

The women's 5k race will begin at 5 p.m. and the men's 8k race is set for 5:45 p.m. The meet will take place at Weibring Golf Club, which is conveniently located within walking distance of Illinois State's campus.

Interim head coach Sean Birren who is in the midst of his first season as the man in charge, will send 20 men and 15 women's team representatives to compete at Friday's event.

GOLDEN EAGLES FIND FOOTING AT PHOENIX OPEN:
In what was essentially a "rust-buster" for MU's season-opening meet at the Phoenix Open on Aug. 30, the Golden Eagles men and women came away victorious over Green Bay.

Redshirt senior captain Brad Eagan took first place overall in the men's 5k with a time of 15:40.67. Eagan, who redshirted last season, was competing in his first cross country event since 2017. After Eagan, Ryan Burd (15:45.36), Daniel Pederson (15:48.89), Alex Gill (15:54.51) and August Beyer (15:54.52) all finished in the top-five and within 15 seconds of one another. Sophomore Jordan Janusiak (15:58.35) took sixth-place overall.

"I thought the meet went as well as we'd expected it to go," Burd said. "It was good to get the newcomers acclimated and get everyone back into the feel of competing again. We just need to get back into the routine of training, working out, recovering and then racing."

On the women's side, senior captain Caitlin McGauley won the race with a time of 19:02.50. True freshman Kate Jochims, in her first race as a Golden Eagle, placed second (19:04.60). Kendall Pfrimmer (19:07.41), Lauren Neiheisel (19:07.41), Emily Foley (19:10.70) and Laurel Moneysmith (19:15.69) finished third through sixth and within 13 seconds of McGauley's pace-setting time.

"It felt refreshing to be out racing again, but the course was more difficult than expected and it really shocked our teams' system," McGauley said. "The beauty of cross country is the variability of each course, and that a course can have a big influence on the overall outcome. Starting at Green Bay has helped me prepare for the rest of the season by learning to expect some challenges and to be ready to push until the end."

MU HAS SUCCESSFUL FINISH TO 2018:
The Marquette University cross country teams ended the 2018 season successfully. The men's team turned in their best-ever finish (fourth) at the BIG EAST Championships, and for the second-straight year, had two All-BIG EAST honorees. The MU women took sixth at the BIG EAST Championships, paced by senior Mary Hanson's 28^th-place finish. The women's team had five top-50 finishers.

Rising senior Daniel Pederson nearly matched his eighth-place finish from 2017, taking ninth place overall. Jon Klaiber, whose eligibility expired after last season, used a strong kick at the end to place 14th overall and earn All-BIG EAST honors for the first time.

As a team, the Golden Eagle men registered their lowest score and highest finish in a BIG EAST meet, winning the tie-breaker over Providence to place fourth with 117 points. Senior Ryan Burd was two spots and three seconds away from a 20th-place finish, which would have earned Marquette a third All-BIG EAST performer for the first time.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Interim Head Coach Sean Birren: "I told the team that there's going to be some quality competition this weekend with some kids who can post some fast times. They'll be able to get a good gauge in the first couple miles, in terms of who they're competing against, and then be able to stick their noses in there and compete."

Freshman Kate Jochims: "My goal for this race is to get out front with my teammate, Caitlin McGauley. It's going to be a lot more crowded this time around, but hopefully we can run together in a pack towards the front and navigate through the traffic."

Junior Emma Moravec: "We've been working super hard up to this point. We had a great starting point with our last meet and we're excited to build off of it and see what we can do."

Senior Ryan Burd: "As a team, we have a good shot at being in the mix for the title for this race. Some of the teams we've competed against before and we know we can beat. It'll be good to compare our fitness levels to the likes of other successful programs. We want to race as well as we can despite the course being unfamiliar territory."

Senior Caitlin McGauley: "Tomorrow I want to race closer to where I want to be throughout the season. Green Bay was a rust-buster, so it has harder to push myself to the pace where I wanted to be. Now that it's out of the way, I really want to push myself a little harder at this meet. I hope to feel strong throughout the race, and I hope the team can work together and motivate each other to do our best."

ILLINOIS STATE INVITATIONAL COMPETITION:
-DePaul (M/W)
-Illinois State (M/W)
-Illinois-Chicago (M/W)
-Loyola Chicago (M/W)
-North Central (Ill.) (M)
-Northern Iowa (M/W)
-Northwestern (W)
-Quincy (W)
-Southern Illinois (M/W)

UP NEXT:
After Friday's meet, the team will gear up for the Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola Chicago, on Saturday, Sept. 28. MU is set to compete in five more meets leading up the BIG EAST Championships, which will be hosted by MU at the Wayne Dannehl XC Course in Somers, Wisconsin.

The last time MU hosted the BIG EAST Championships was in 2017, when the women's team posted its best conference championships finish since 2005. The men's team also made history, with two earning All-BIG EAST honors and sophomore Daniel Pederson taking the program's first-ever top-10 individual placement, finishing eighth.

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).

MARQUETTE ENTRIES:

Women:
Sophie Bolich
Anna Buckstaff
Mary Rose Flood
Emily Foley
Mary Hanson
Kate Jochims
Mallory Lafever
Caitlin McGauley
Laurel Moneysmith
Emma Moravec
Lauren Neiheisel
Emily Noone
Anna Penzkover
Kendall Pfrimmer
Hannah Ray

Men:
Augie Beyer
Patrick Bruch
Ryan Burd
Patrick Burns
Matt Cavanaugh
Brad Eagan
Cade Ferron
Alex Gill
Derek Gross
Jack Hawes
Patrick Hetlage
Johnny Hyland
Jordan Janusiak
Matt Moravec
Daniel Pederson
Danny Peterson
Stephen Poorten
Paolo Tiongson
Joshua Urban
Greg Van Hollen