Results
The Prairie Fire cross country teams improved their placements in the second meet of the season September 16 in Normal, Illinois and established two new all-time marks.
Knox participated in the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships, hosted by Illinois State University.
The Prairie Fire men finished 18th out of 26 teams in the non-NCAA Division I standings. The women's squad placed 17th out of 22 teams. Both fought off chilly conditions to put together strong performances.
Leading the way for the Knox men for the second straight meet was junior Sean Choate (Chicago, IL, Chicago Academy High). Choate finished 143rd out of 323 runners in a field that included the top NCAA Division I, III and NJCAA teams in the region. His time of 26:48 topped his previous best of 27:11, set during the 2010 season, placing him 12th on the All-Time Top 25 Individuals by Time list.
His time is also the second fastest among all Midwest Conference runners so far this season.
Sophomore Gabe Moreno (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg High School), who previously held the #12 spot on the All-Time Top 25 Individuals by Time list, finished the race in 27:01 and placed 162nd overall. He was 12 seconds off his career-best time of 26:49 set last season that's now #13 on the all-time list behind Choate.
The Prairie Fire women's team was led for the second straight meet by senior Emma Swanson (West Des Moines, IA, Valley), who crossed the finish line in 20:17 in the 5K race. She was 123rd overall out of 291 runners.
Swanson, a first-year cross country runner for the Prairie Fire, set the 13th best time by an individual all-time at Knox. She moved into 13th place, ahead of Wendy Toole's time of 20:30 in 1991. Swanson's time ranks her seventh overall to date in the Midwest Conference.
First-year runner Melanie Kovacs (Buffalo Grove, IL, Stevenson) ran the race in 21:28 to finish second for Knox and 189th overall.
The cross country teams take part in their third meet of the season Saturday, September 24 at the Forester Invitational in Libertyville, Illinois.
