Geneva, Ill. – Last weekend the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's and women's teams got a preview of the 2024 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Cross Country Championships course when they raced at Northwestern Medicine XC Course in the Spartan Invitational hosted by Aurora University.
After having a little over two weeks off, the Hawks were ready to get on the course and run on Saturday, September 14. The women placed 5th out of 6 teams in the 6K while the men placed 4th out of 9 teams in the 8K. Illinois Tech and Aurora University were the only two schools representing the NACC at the meet.
RESULTS
For the men's side, Joey Loriso led the Hawks with a time of 28:17.90, earning 31st place. Not far behind him was John McCullough, earning 37th place with a time of 28:52.30. Gabe Durazo crossed the finish line in 29:02.90 for a 44th place finish. Alejandro Torres came in at 29:28.20 in 49th. Crossing the line in 58th was Nicholas Quigley in a time of 30:08.30. Lane Regan took 67th in a time of 30:54.70 while Andrew Farber was close behind in 69th with a time of 31:06.20. Mason Brewer closed out the race for the Hawks in 80th with a time of 31:44.70.
Sophia Halama led the Hawks on the women's side, placing 2nd overall in the 6K with a personal best time of 24:57.1. Valerie Lending came in 28th with a time of 28:13.40. Isabelle Pullen and Paige McEnerny crossed the finish line back-to-back with times of 31:38.70 and 32:00.0 for 44th and 45th place respectively. Clara Pargett finished in a time of 34:23.60 for 54th place. Adela Rivas took 60th with a time of 37:31.20.
HEAD COACH TYLER MCQUALITY'S COMMENTS
"I am grateful for the opportunity to have our team out on the conference course earlier in the season so now we have a frame of reference visually for what we are looking for at the end of the season at the conference championships. Now it is back to work to keep building!"
ASSISTANT COACH ALLAYNA GAGNARD'S COMMENTS
"It was an exciting day for the team, some of our athletes competed in their first collegiate XC meet. The team pushed through the hot weather and many ended up with PRs. Proud of everyone and excited to see how we will improve moving forward!"
UP NEXT
The Hawks will be back in action on Saturday, September 21st when they head to Warrenville, IL. to race at St. James Farm in the Gil Dodds Invitational hosted by Wheaton College. The men's race is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM with the women following at 9:45 AM.
