MU Men Win Illinois State Invite, Women Take Second

NORMAL, Illinois – The Marquette University men's cross country team finished first while the women's team took second at the Illinois State Invitational on Friday evening.

"I felt like both teams ran out of their minds today," MU interim head coach Sean Birren said. "I'm just really proud of the kids we have and how they were able to perform today. They stuck their noses in there and competed hard from start to finish. I can't wait to see how we continue to build off this performance."

The MU men emerged victoriously in the 8-kilometer race, leading an eight-team field with an average time of 25:04. The Golden Eagles were trailed by Loyola (66 points) and North Central (69 points), a Division III powerhouse in Illinois.

Senior Ryan Burd placed first among Golden Eagles and second overall with a time of 24:43.8. Senior captain Brad Eagan (24:52.0), senior Daniel Pederson (25:07.3) and sophomore August Beyer (25:15.5) joined Burd in the top 15, finishing fifth, 12^th and 15th, respectively. Alex Gill (25:17.4), Paolo Tiongson (25:30.8) and Danny Peterson (25:32.7) rounded out the top seven finishers for MU.

Senior Caitlin McGauley (17:59.6) and junior Emily Foley (18:02.5) earned top-10 finishes to pace MU in the women's 5-kilometer race. The Golden Eagle women's team took runner-up honors in the eight-team meet with 54 points.

Kendall Pfrimmer (18:05.1) and Lauren Neiheisel (18:06.1) finished back-to-back at Nos. 11 and 12 for MU while freshman Kate Jochims (18:12.8) also finished in the top-15 in a race with over 100 runners. Fellow freshman Laurel Moneysmith (18:26.1) took 21^st overall while Emma Moravec (18:55.3) rounded out the top seven and placed 37^th.

"Watching the results of all the hard work the student-athletes have put into their training the past couple weeks certainly paid off today," Birren said. "We took a huge jump forward today and now just need to carry this over to our next meet."

UP NEXT:
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.

TEAM STANDINGS:

MEN (Points):
1. Marquette (51)
2. Loyola (66)
3. North Central (Ill.) (69)
4. Illinois State (100)
5. Northern Iowa (119)
6. DePaul (171)
7. Illinois-Chicago (181)
8. Southern Illinois (181)

WOMEN:
1. Loyola (32)
2. Marquette (54)
3. Illinois State (63)
4. Southern Illinois (119)
5. Northwestern (140)
6. Northern Iowa (149)
7. DePaul (173)
8. Illinois-Chicago (204)

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