Western Illinois Athletics marked a new era for the Leatherneck cross country teams this past Saturday October 28th 2023. In their debut Ohio Valley Conference Championship meet, the men finished seventh and the women finished eight out of 10 participating teams.
"It was a bittersweet outcome this weekend for our team. I feel like a broken record. Since arriving here at WIU two years ago, our individuals are improving; some are improving dramatically and we saw that again this weekend. We just can't quite get over the hump and be a top-tier team, yet," said coach Trey Brokaw.
Logan Lommel led the men's team with a 17th place overall finish and the second best 8k time of his career, 24:29.6, 4:56 mile pace for nearly five miles. The women were paced by Aylana Cezar who finished in 20th place overall with a 6k time of 22:35.1, ten seconds off her personal best from a year ago.
"Logan and Aylana have both done a fantastic job leading our teams this year. Even though Logan is in graduate school, this is only his twelfth cross country race ever. Aylana, a sophomore from Brazil, is in a similar position. Both runners had the talent and ability to finish top-10 this weekend," says Brokaw. "Both runners put themselves in a great position and were running top-10 until the last portion of the race. They couldn't quite finish it today and sometimes that is how it goes. Nonetheless, a great effort and a great representation of leadership for our young teams."
With no seniors NCAA eligibility wise, the Leathernecks will return all fourteen runners from the championship squad next year, including five freshmen who will benefit from the race experience.
Sophomore Robert Perry ran 24:40.6 to finish just behind Lommel. Perry's time ties him with Dan Albert (1974) for 5th all-time in program history. True freshman Logan Beckmier ran 25:11.0 to finish third on the team. Isaiah Moorman, 25:29.5, and Sean Hudspath, 26:01.7, rounded out the top-5 scorers for the Leathernecks. It was over a one minute personal best for Perry, Moorman and Hudspath. For Beckmier, it was still a 26 second personal best.
On the women's side, junior college transfer Aurora Dominguez led the Leatherneck chase pack by running a 23 second personal best, 23:09.1. Maleigha Huston was the third finisher for the Leathernecks in 23:23.8. Rounding out the top-5 were freshman Meg Simmons, 23:50.9 and sophomore Kayden Gilmore, 23:58.1.
"Winning or being highly successful, it's about culture, attitude, mindset; everyone at the Division I level is talented and works hard. So we get up, go back to work, and have some resolve that when we return to this meet next year, we will do better," said Brokaw. "We've got a young squad. They have a great culture established now, but how can we shift that great team culture into a winning team culture. There is a difference. Our student-athletes will keep working hard. We've got some talented recruits that we're going after. The future is bright for our program."
