MU Cross Country to Compete at Redbird Invite

MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams are set to compete in their second meet of the 2021 season on Friday, Sept. 17 at the Redbird Invite hosted by Illinois State in Normal, IL.

The meet will begin at 5 p.m. with the women's 6k race, the men's 8k race will follow. The meet will take place at Weibring Golf Club located on the Illinois State campus.

This will be Marquette's second time competing at the Redbird Invite, the first time since 2019. In 2019, the MU men were victorious in Normal and the women received runner-up honors.

GOLDEN EAGLES LOOK TO BUILD ON OPENER IN EVANSVILLE:

In MU's season opener hosted by Evansville University at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course on Sept. 3, the women finished runner-ups and the men took third place.

"All in all, I was pleased with how we performed," coach Birren said after the meet.

The MU men placed four of their top five runners in the top-20. Captains Jordan Janusiak and August Beyer lead the men, finishing 12th (26:03) and 14th (26:24), respectively. Dan Weizeorick (16th), Jadon Conroy (17th), and Patrick Burns (21st) shortly followed.

The Marquette women had five runners place in the top-20 in the 5k race. Junior Kendall Pfrimmer paced the Golden Eagles, coming in fifth-place overall with a time of 17:59.9. Sophomore Kate Jochims recorded a top-10 finish, coming in ninth place overall. Emily Noone (19:10.3), Anna Penzkover (19.11.4), and Mallory Lafever (19:20) all finished within 10 seconds of one another to finish in the top-15.

The Golden Eagles will return to Angel Mounds Cross Country Course for the Great Lakes Regional qualifier on Nov. 12.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:

Coach Sean Birren: "We call the first race a rust buster and use it to get a sense of where we are at. In the last race, I thought we had gone out a little fast off the start. Just knowing what kind of pace you want to race at and having a sense of what that feels like."

Senior Emily Foley: "It is a 6k this week so we are jumping up a kilometer so it's going to be interesting. Two years ago, at this event, we had a ton of personal-records and took second as a team and I think we are going to try and go off of that excitement."

Junior August Beyer: "I love this race. I went off here a couple of years ago. It's a nice golf course with a few loops and it goes pretty quick."

UP NEXT:

After this Friday's meet, the Golden Eagles will travel to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the Live in Lou Classic hosted by the University of Louisville at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park on Saturday, Oct. 2.

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

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Players Mentioned

August Beyer

Patrick Burns

Emily Foley