Saturday, October 28
Springfield, MO
TBA
Southern Illinois University
at
MVC Championships
MVC Championship meet next for SIU Cross Country
10/26/2017 | 3:24:00 | Cross Country
Both races will be streamed on ESPN3 for the first time in conference history.
The Southern Illinois cross country teams will race at the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championships this Saturday, Oct. 28, in Springfield, Mo. The Saluki men will compete in the eight-kilometer race at 10:30 a.m., followed by SIU's women running in the five-kilometer race at 11:30 a.m. Both races will be broadcast live on The Valley on ESPN3 for the first time in conference history.
"We need to race with a sense of purpose and pride come Saturday," second-year head coach Kevin Cataldo said. "We need to remember to trust our training and to work for one another. If we do those things, the race will go well. The Missouri Valley Conference is a great conference and we can go out there and make a statement. It's not going to be easy, but I know we are up to the challenge."
The Salukis have history in Springfield, Mo., as Missouri State last hosted the MVC Cross Country Championships in 2008. That year, the Saluki men, behind a win from 2008 MVC Cross Country Athlete of the Year Jeff Schirmer, won the MVC team title with 38 points.
Saturday's MVC Championship meet could be a cold one. The high temperature for Saturday in Springfield, Mo. is currently 49 degrees, with a low of 29. Southern's coldest meet this season was just under 70 degrees, with temperatures for most of SIU's races right around 80 degrees.
Competing for the Saluki men this weekend will be Josh Maier, Theo Hassim, Cain Hassim, Jonathan Vara, Michael Church, Jacob DeWitt and Chris Edwards.
Maier comes into this weekend with the fifth-fastest 8K time in the Valley this season. His time of 24:40.9 was good for 17th at Pre-Nationals and it is less than 11 seconds off of the best time in the Valley this season, 24:49.58, set by Illinois State's Kyle Mattes.
Maier, who earned All-MVC Honorable Mention a year ago after he ran 25:17.4 to finish 13th, will try to become the 29th Saluki to earn All-MVC honors in back-to-back seasons, and the first to do so since Oscar Media finished fifth in 2015 to earn his fourth-straight All-MVC finish. Southern's men have an active streak of 16-straight years with at least one top-15 finisher at the conference meet.
The Saluki men were picked to finish seventh in the league's annual Pre-Championship poll. The Salukis, who last hoisted the MVC men's team title in 2013, have won 14 MVC titles all-time, the most of any Valley school.Â
Competing for the Saluki women at the MVC Championships will be Megan Krolak, Claire Darnell, Kelly O'Shea, Sasha Lanning, Hillary Merrill, Sydney Spranger and Natalia Hajduk.
Krolak has the eighth-fastest 5K in the Valley at 17:48.6, set at the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29. Missouri State's Jessica Allen has the fastest 5K time in the MVC this season at 17:06.7. Krolak, who finished 51st at the 2015 MVC Championships while at Illinois State, will try to become the first Saluki woman to finish in the top-15 since 2014, when Krista Menghini placed 10th and was one of three Salukis to finish in the top-15.
The Saluki women were picked to finish seventh in the league's annual Pre-Championship Poll, where they finished a year ago after improving two spots from a ninth place finish at the 2015 meet. SIU's women also last won the MVC title in 2013, as Southern swept the team titles that year for the first time in program history. It was just the second time in school history that SIU has won a women's conference cross country title, and the first time they had done so since the first year of the MVC In 1992.
The Salukis will next run at the NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Iowa State, on Friday, Nov. 10.
"We need to race with a sense of purpose and pride come Saturday," second-year head coach Kevin Cataldo said. "We need to remember to trust our training and to work for one another. If we do those things, the race will go well. The Missouri Valley Conference is a great conference and we can go out there and make a statement. It's not going to be easy, but I know we are up to the challenge."
The Salukis have history in Springfield, Mo., as Missouri State last hosted the MVC Cross Country Championships in 2008. That year, the Saluki men, behind a win from 2008 MVC Cross Country Athlete of the Year Jeff Schirmer, won the MVC team title with 38 points.
Saturday's MVC Championship meet could be a cold one. The high temperature for Saturday in Springfield, Mo. is currently 49 degrees, with a low of 29. Southern's coldest meet this season was just under 70 degrees, with temperatures for most of SIU's races right around 80 degrees.
Competing for the Saluki men this weekend will be Josh Maier, Theo Hassim, Cain Hassim, Jonathan Vara, Michael Church, Jacob DeWitt and Chris Edwards.
Maier comes into this weekend with the fifth-fastest 8K time in the Valley this season. His time of 24:40.9 was good for 17th at Pre-Nationals and it is less than 11 seconds off of the best time in the Valley this season, 24:49.58, set by Illinois State's Kyle Mattes.
Maier, who earned All-MVC Honorable Mention a year ago after he ran 25:17.4 to finish 13th, will try to become the 29th Saluki to earn All-MVC honors in back-to-back seasons, and the first to do so since Oscar Media finished fifth in 2015 to earn his fourth-straight All-MVC finish. Southern's men have an active streak of 16-straight years with at least one top-15 finisher at the conference meet.
The Saluki men were picked to finish seventh in the league's annual Pre-Championship poll. The Salukis, who last hoisted the MVC men's team title in 2013, have won 14 MVC titles all-time, the most of any Valley school.Â
Competing for the Saluki women at the MVC Championships will be Megan Krolak, Claire Darnell, Kelly O'Shea, Sasha Lanning, Hillary Merrill, Sydney Spranger and Natalia Hajduk.
Krolak has the eighth-fastest 5K in the Valley at 17:48.6, set at the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29. Missouri State's Jessica Allen has the fastest 5K time in the MVC this season at 17:06.7. Krolak, who finished 51st at the 2015 MVC Championships while at Illinois State, will try to become the first Saluki woman to finish in the top-15 since 2014, when Krista Menghini placed 10th and was one of three Salukis to finish in the top-15.
The Saluki women were picked to finish seventh in the league's annual Pre-Championship Poll, where they finished a year ago after improving two spots from a ninth place finish at the 2015 meet. SIU's women also last won the MVC title in 2013, as Southern swept the team titles that year for the first time in program history. It was just the second time in school history that SIU has won a women's conference cross country title, and the first time they had done so since the first year of the MVC In 1992.
The Salukis will next run at the NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Iowa State, on Friday, Nov. 10.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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