Early Bird Invitational results
Macomb, IL – The Prairie Fire cross country teams, facing the challenges of inclement weather and tough competition, ran well in the Early Bird Invitational on August 31 at Western Illinois University.
The Knox women’s squad scored 76 points to place third out of five teams, finishing behind two NCAA Division I schools - first place University of Iowa (21 points) and runner-up Western Illinois University (52 points).
First-year runner Elizabeth Reyes (Oak Park, IL, Oak Park-River Forest) led the Prairie Fire with a 10th place individual finish out of 36 participants in a time of 16:39. Knox had three other runners, all first-years, placed in the top 20. Lindsay Morgan (Lincoln, NE, Lincoln East) ran the race in 17:54 to finish 17th, Melissa Silva (Zion, IL, Zion-Benton Township) was 18th in 17:57, and Mickella Duffy-Webb (Colorado Springs, CO, William J. Palmer) placed 19th with her time of 18:04.
The Prairie Fire men placed fourth out of seven teams with 115 points behind the University of Iowa (18 points), nationally ranked NCAA Division III Augustana College (40 points), and Western Illinois University (100 points).
Senior Sean Choate (Chicago, IL, Chicago Academy) paced Knox with a time of 19:57 and a 17th place individual finish out of 71 runners. Junior Gabe Moreno (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg ) followed with a 22nd place finish in 20:17 and first-year runner Victor Schultz (Staunton, VA, Robert E. Lee) was 25th in a time of 20:35.
Prairie Fire coach Alex Moreno said the weather nearly wiped out the races.
“When we arrived at the meet, the rain began to fall and got heavier as the race time approached. The meet director combined and shortened the men’s and women’s races to possibly avoid canceling the meet due to thunder and lightning.
Our team adapted extremely well to the weather, the change of race distance, and combining the men’s and women’s races,” Moreno said.
Next up for the Prairie Fire cross country teams is the Les Duke Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa on September 8.
Moreno is happy with how the runners are coming together.
“Our team has become incredibly close through our preseason and you could feel that closeness through watching how they each supported and cheered for ones other at (Friday’s) meet.”
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