Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Lakeshore Invitational (Men 8K)
Men's cross country finishes 15th at Lakeshore Invitational
10/01/2005 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Oct. 1, 2005
By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com
CHICAGO - After taking a week off, the Southern Illinois University men's cross country team returned to action Saturday at the Lakeshore Invitational. The Salukis finished 15th of the 28 teams in the event.
Host team Loyola Chicago walked away with the team championship while Eastern Kentucky's Jacob Korir winning individual honors with a time of 23:51.
Senior Joe Byrne led the Salukis by finishing 26th out of the 270 runners in the event. He ran the 8K in 25:22.
The Lakeshore Invitational was Byrne's first event of the season as he sat out the Evansville Early Bird and the EIU Panther Open.
"Joe Byrne ran good for his first race of the year," said Saluki head coach Matt Sparks. "He is coming off of 90-mile week in workouts, so that is something that we may scale back now."
Finishing 16 seconds behind Byrne and finishing 45th was freshman Mohamed Mohamed. Mohamed was also running in his first event of the season in a Saluki uniform.
"Mohamed ran really well for us but is still struggling with his endurance," said Sparks.
Mohamed was running in 25th early in the race but slipped back to 45th by the end of the 8K.
Finishing behind Mohamed was fellow freshman Brad Pirok. Pirok, who was the top Saluki at the EIU Panther Open, finished 107th with a time of 26:24.
Rounding out the top five for SIU were senior Rob Duncan and junior Tom Gentry. Duncan finished 152nd (27:13) while Gentry came in at 187th (27:48).
"Our upperclassmen did not come through for us today," said Sparks. "Someone stepped on Rob's foot and he had to stop and tie his shoe, dropping him back 45 seconds, and that hurt us."
Also competing for SIU were Mark Bowman and Jason Brosseau. Bowman finished 192nd with a time of 27:50. Brosseau ran the 8K in 28:42, finishing 229th.
The Dawgs were competing this week without senior Kyle Monroe. Monroe had to sit out this weekend because of an illness.
"The freshmen really came through for us today and Byrne was finally able to get in there," said Sparks. "Once we get Duncan and Monroe healthy, we'll be on the right track."
After competing in such a difficult event, with nationally-ranked and regionally-ranked teams competing, Sparks was definitely able to find some positives.
"It was very encouraging because we beat all of the conference schools that were in the meet," said Sparks.
"That was definitely a positive and we will get to compete against them some more this season before the MVC Championships."
Other Missouri Valley Conference schools in the meet were: Missouri State (16th), Evansville (21st), Illinois State (24th) and Creighton (25th).
The SIU men's and women's cross country teams return to action Oct. 1 as the teams host the Saluki Invitational. The women will run a 5K while the men run an 8K in the event.
Lakeshore Invitational
hosted by Loyola Chicago
TEAM SCORES
1 - Loyola Chicago - 81
2 - Eastern Michigan - 98
3 - Guelph - 118
4 - Grand Valley State - 125
5 - Illinois - 181
6 - Saginaw Valley - 188
7 - Eastern Kentucky - 224
8 - Indiana - 239
9 - Southern Indiana - 255
10 - Malone - 325
11 - Marquette - 376
12 - University of Chicago - 397
13 - Lewis University - 412
14 - Xavier University - 420
15 - Southern Illinois - 423
16 - Missouri State - 430
17 - Universal Sole-Reebok - 445
18 - University of Central Florida - 471
19 - University of Western Ontario - 486
20 - Azusa Pacific - 502
21 - Evansville - 556
22 - UIC - 561
23 - Southeast Missouri - 585
24 - Illinois State - 591
25 - Creighton - 685
26 - Marshall - 721
27 - DePaul - 759
28 - Valparaiso - 933
INDIVIDUAL TIMES
26 - Joe Byrne - 25:22
45 - Mohamed Mohamed - 25:38
107 - Brad Pirok - 26:24
152 - Rob Duncan - 27:13
187 - Tom Gentry - 27:48
192 - Mark Bowman - 27:50
229 - Jason Brosseau - 28:42
