Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Mohamed Mohamed named MVC Athlete of the Week
10/20/2009 | 12:00:00 | Cross Country
Oct. 20, 2009
St. Louis, Mo. - Every squad competed last weekend in what -- for most -- was the final tuneup for the 2009 State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship, hosted by Bradley University on Oct. 31. This week's Missouri Valley Conference cross country athletes of the week are Terry Phillips of Missouri State, Mohamed Mohamed of Southern Illinois, and Thibault Vandenabeele of UNI.
The site for the Cross Country Championship is Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill., located at the corner of Nebraska Avenue and Sterling Avenue. The course is located one mile northwest of Bradley University. The men's 8K race will begin at 10:30 a.m., while the women's 5K run starts at 11:30 a.m. Please click on the PDF links at the bottom of this page for course layouts.
Newman Golf Course | 2021 West Nebraska Avenue (Corner of Sterling Ave. & Nebraska Ave.) | Peoria, IL 61604
From the east: I-74 exit #91 (University Street) turn right - North and then make an immediate left onto Nebraska Avenue. Newman Golf Course will be 1 mile ahead on your right. From the west: I-74 exit #88 (Sterling Avenue) turn right - South. Newman Golf Course will be 2 miles ahead on your left.
Meanwhile, there were slight changes in the women's regional rankings, as five teams are again ranked in the Top 15 in the Midwest region, as the MVC is represented by Wichita State (8), Bradley (11), Illinois State (12), Missouri State (13) and Southern Illinois (15). Bradley and Missouri State both moved up a spot from last week, while Illinois State fell to 12th, behind the Braves.
In the men's regional rankings, Indiana State is rated No. 7 in the Great Lakes region (up on spot from last week), while Southern Illinois (6) and Illinois State (12) represent the MVC in the Midwest region.
BRADLEY
Over 400 collegiate competitors gathered at Newman Golf Course on a frigid Friday afternoon to run the sixth annual Bradley Classic Cross Country Meet. Led by redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.), a quartet of Braves finished in the top-25 in the women's 6K race. The foursome helped Bradley to a second place finish. In the men's 8K race, junior Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Danville Area C.C./Heyworth H.S.) set a personal best time of 26:01 and finished 20th as the Bradley men finished eighth overall.
CREIGHTON
The Creighton men's and women's cross country teams both finished 13th at the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Ill., on Friday. Wisconsin won the 19-team women's race and the University of Windsor was the best of the 16 teams in the men's field. The Creighton men were led by sophomore Stephen VanGampleare. He finished 60th with a time of 26:57 on the 8,000 meter course. Creighton's womens team was paced by freshman Hannah Connealy. She finished in 44th place with a 6,000 meter time of 23:05.
DRAKE
Drake junior Casey McDermott (Newton, Iowa) placed fifth at the Bradley Classic Friday. McDermott was timed in 21:51 for the 6,000-meter race which took place at the Newman Golf Course which also will serve as host of the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 31. The Bulldogs finished fifth as a team. The Drake men's cross country team tied for fifth out of 16 teams at the sixth annual Bradley Classic Friday at the Newman Golf Course. The Bulldogs and Northern Iowa posted identical scores of 125. The MVC Men's meet will also be held at the Newman Golf Course on Oct. 31. Senior Jeff Grassmeyer (Fremont, Neb.) led Drake by placing sixth out of 158 runners in the 8,000-meter race in 25 minutes 29 seconds.
EVANSVILLE
Spurred by an individual title by Matt Schiffbauer, the Marshall University men's cross country team won a hotly-contested men's 8-K team title on Saturday at the 2009 University of Evansville Cross Country Invitational, while the Murray State women raced to the team title in the women's 5-K meet at the UE Cross Country Course in Evansville. For the UE men, junior Ryan Witters (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) continued his strong 2009 campaign by placing fourth out of 151 runners in an 8-K time of 26:23.39. On the women's side, freshman Lauren Zeabart (Fort Branch, Ind./Gibson Southern) paced the Purple Aces for the third meet in a row by placing 19th overall in a 5-K time of 20:03.29.
ILLINOIS STATE
Junior Sarah Glowacki led the Illinois State women's cross country team to a 26th-place performance at the 2009 Brooks Pre-Nationals Saturday afternoon. She crossed the finish line in 22:08 at the 6K meet, which gave her a 102-place finish in the women's White race. It was the first time in her career that Glowacki was the first Redbird to cross the finish line.
Scott Krapf, a senior from Danville, Ill., crossed the finish line first for the Redbirds in 24:55 for a 77th-place finish, leading the Redbirds to a 26th-place finish at the competitive 2009 Brooks Pre-Nationals men's Blue race.
INDIANA STATE
Sophomore Jeremiah Vaughan finished as the top Indiana State runner for the first time in his career, placing 79th overall at the ISU Pre-National Invitational and leading the Sycamores to a 19th place finish in the team standings. Vaughan ran 24:56.9 on a soggy LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in a race that featured eight nationally ranked teams and three others that received votes in the USTFCCCA poll.
Junior Allison Malone captured her fourth top 10 finish in four races this season, leading the Sycamores at the Bradley Classic with a third place finish in 21:46. That time is the fourth best in ISU history for a 6K event. Malone ran with the leaders most of the race, fell back a little at the second of the second half but roared back in the final 1,000 meters to post a personal best time in the 6K.
MISSOURI STATE
In one of the premier cross country meets in the country, the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., sophomore Terry Phillips placed 12th overall in a field of 267. Though the race was the first 6K of the season and the course conditions were extremely muddy and sloppy, Phillips still turned in a time of 21:26.09, a new personal best. Notable teams in the field were nationally-ranked Texas Tech and SMU, who were 20th and 26th respectively. Also competing were Midwest Region powerhouses Oklahoma State, who placed fifth in last year's Midwest Regional and University of Missouri, ranked ninth in the Midwest Region entering the race.
NORTHERN IOWA
The University of Northern Iowa men's cross country team took home a sixth place finish while the women finished in eighth place Friday evening at the Bradley Classic. Freshman Thibault Vandenabeele took first place overall in the men's 8k race, clocking in at a time of 24:48. On the women's side, Carly Olsen was the women's top finisher taking 13th place in a time of 22:09
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Mohamed Mohamed, a senior from Carol Stream, Ill., led the Salukis to a 14th overall finish in the men's white race at Pre Nationals at Indiana State on Oct. 17. Mohamed finished 37th overall with a time of 24:20.9 in just his second competitive race this season. Megan Hoelscher paced the Saluki women with a sixth place finish at the Bradley Classic with a 6K time of 21:52 on Oct. 16. Hoelscher led the Salukis to a third place overall finish in their first competitive 6K race of the season.
WICHITA STATE
Marius Sava was the first Shocker across the line at the NCAA Pre-National meet on Saturday, Oct. 17. Sava placed 17th overall in a time of 25:48, and was the first Missouri Valley Conference athlete to finish the 8K course in the Open Race. Sava just missed his own personal best time in the 8K by only 19 seconds. Sava and the WSU men's team competed in the open race.
Tonya Nero was the top Missouri Valley Conference finisher at the NCAA Pre-National meet on Saturday, Oct. 17. Nero crossed the line in a time of 21:25.4, placing 36th, out of 247 runners in the event. Her time helped the Shocker women place 17th overall out of 37 schools.
Players Mentioned
