Cross Country Opens Season With WIU Early Bird Invite

Abigail Richter took home first place while Grant Kaiser led the men with a third place finish.

RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill- The Western Illinois men's and women's track team opened up the 2017 with the 12th annual Early Bird Invitational at Spring Lake State Park (Sept. 1). The women finished first overall with a score of 40 points while the men finished third with 64.

"It's a great opportunity for us to test ourselves. The last three and a half months have just been a lot of training and gearing up for the year and to do it in front of our home crowd every year for our first meet means a lot," said head coach Nick Mass "It's pretty special for us, especially the way the men and women competed today. It showed us some good early signs of how we are going to do later in the year."

The women led the way through the 4k course finishing with four of the six finishing in the top ten. Like the previous year, the Leathernecks swept the top three spots with Abigail Richter, who came in first with a time of 14:50, followed by runner-up Hailey Tranchitella who finished with a time of 14:56 and Nicole Beebe rounding out the top-3 with a 14:57 result.

Other finishers for the Leathernecks consisted of Jacey Roper (eighth, 15:34), Michaela Busch (47th, 17:50) and Kristen Goben (54th, 18:17).

On the men's side Grant Kaiser completed the 6k in third with a time of 19:44, while Lucas Lingle followed close behind to take sixth for the Leathernecks with 19:56. Five other Leathernecks worked their way to the finish line in Corey Moody (13th, 20:13), Ross Smetzer (20th, 20:54), Harry Osborne (28th, 21:22), Quintin Thurman (48th, 22:49) and Sean Zerrusen (57th, 24: 39).

The Leathernecks look towards next week at Illinois State in Normal, Ill. on Sept. 8.

"That will be really our next true test at the race distance we typically do. Today was a little bit shorter," said Mass. "We are just going to take it step by step and week by week and just try to get better."

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Players Mentioned

Grant Kaiser: DISTANCE; Senior; Glenwood

Lucas Lingle: DISTANCE; Junior; Canton

Ross Smetzer: DISTANCE; Sophomore; St. Joseph-Ogden

Sean Zerrusen: DISTANCE; Sophomore; Effingham

Corey Moody: DISTANCE; Freshman; Osseo

Quintin Thurman: DISTANCE; Freshman; Rushville-Industry

Nicole Beebe: DISTANCE; Sophomore; Canton

Kristen Goben: DISTANCE; Graduate Student; Lincoln Land Community College

Abigail Richter: DISTANCE; Sophomore; Triad

Jacey Roper: DISTANCE; Sophomore; Carlinville

Hailey Tranchitella: DISTANCE; Freshman; Washington

Michaela Busch: DISTANCE; Sophomore; Rock Falls Township

Players Mentioned

Grant Kaiser
: Senior; Glenwood
: DISTANCE

Lucas Lingle
: Junior; Canton
: DISTANCE

Ross Smetzer
: Sophomore; St. Joseph-Ogden
: DISTANCE

Sean Zerrusen
: Sophomore; Effingham
: DISTANCE

Corey Moody
: Freshman; Osseo
: DISTANCE

Quintin Thurman
: Freshman; Rushville-Industry
: DISTANCE

Nicole Beebe
: Sophomore; Canton
: DISTANCE

Kristen Goben
: Graduate Student; Lincoln Land Community College
: DISTANCE

Abigail Richter
: Sophomore; Triad
: DISTANCE

Jacey Roper
: Sophomore; Carlinville
: DISTANCE

Hailey Tranchitella
: Freshman; Washington
: DISTANCE

Michaela Busch
: Sophomore; Rock Falls Township
: DISTANCE