Men’s Cross Country
First-year head coach Alex Moreno, a former cross country most valuable player and top 25 record holder at Knox, has three members back from last year’s men’s team with race times that are among the program’s top 25 all-time records.
Moreno said a successful cross country program at Knox “needs to be dynamic, personally challenging, and deeply rewarding for the student-athlete.”
The Prairie Fire looks to seniors Sean Choate (Chicago, IL, Chicago Academy) and Jacob Buddell (Lake Bluff, IL, Lake Forest) to provide leadership and continue the success they had last year.
Choate ran the fastest time of his career last September at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships hosted by Illinois State University. He finished the race in 26:48, which ranks 14th on the list of top 25 individuals by time.
Buddell established the fastest time of his career at last year’s conference championships. He finished in 27:35, the 24th fastest time by an individual.
Junior Gabe Moreno (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg), an All-Midwest Conference runner, is ranked 10th and 20th on the top 25 list of all-time best performances, as well as seventh and 10th on the list of top 25 individuals by time.
Moreno placed 12th at last year’s conference championships with his career-best time of 26:09. The performances by Moreno and Kevin Box ’12 were the best at the conference meet since 2000. The Prairie Fire placed fifth in the team standings, the highest finish in the conference by the men’s team since 2003.
Knox went on to place 26th out of 39 teams at the 2011 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional in Rock Island, an improvement of five spots compared to the 2010 regional. The team’s finish was its best since placing 25th in 2002. Moreno led the way individually by placing 78th in a time of 26:36, the first Knox men’s runner to finish in the 70s in regional competition since 2000.
The other runners back from last season are juniors Matt Brongo (Eureka, IL, Eureka), Bobby Mueller (Woodridge, IL, Downers Grove South), Max Potthoff (Western Springs, IL, Lyons Township), Tom Thorsett (Eden Prairie, MN, Eden Prairie), and Philip Bennett (Culver City, CA, Culver City).
The Prairie Fire hopes to get contributions from six new runners as well. Three are first-years, two are sophomores, and one is a junior.
Women’s Cross Country
The Prairie Fire returns three runners and adds eight new members to the 2012 women’s team.
The lone senior and most experienced member of the squad is Zoe Kudla (Ypsilanti, MI, Greenhills). Kudla improved her career-best time in the 6k last season by nearly two minutes. Her previous best was 29:27 during her sophomore year in 2010, which she easily topped with a time of 27:32 last season at the conference championships.
Junior Carli Bogolub (Downers Grove, IL, Highland Park) and sophomore Jade Ivy (Chicago, IL, Chicago Taft) also bring experience into the 2012 campaign.
Like Kudla, Bogolub shaved nearly two minutes off her previous fastest time in the 6k at last year’s conference meet.
Ivy, in her first season, had a strong showing at the 2011 MWC Championships that resulted in a women’s cross country all-time mark. Ivy ran the 6k in 26:35 to rank 15th on the women’s top 25 individuals by time list.
The newcomers on the women’s team this season are one junior, two sophomores, and five first-year runners.
The cross country season begins on August 31 when the teams travel to Macomb to participate in the Western Illinois University Early Bird Invitational.
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