KENOSHA, Wis. -- UIC hosted foes from around the conference on Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's Wayne Dannehl Cross Country Course for the 2018 Horizon League Cross Country Championship. The Flames finished fifth in the men's standings and seventh on the women's side with three student-athletes earning All-Conference honors along the way.
Senior Allison Hansen paced the young women's squad Saturday as she has all season long. The Lombard, Ill., native shot out to a tremendous start and an early lead in the 6K. Though she was unable to maintain the lead position as the race continued, she was able to finish strong and claim fifth place for the second season in a row at the conference meet. She earned All-Horizon League First Team honors with a time of 21:52.0. That was less than three seconds off a personal-best time.
"Allison really put herself out there and went for it today," said UIC head coach
Ashley Lucas. "She had a plan and she executed it well throughout the race. Earning All-Conference for a second year in a row is a tremendous accomplishment and something that our entire program is very proud of her for accomplishing."
Narrowly missing All-Conference accolades was junior Ai Kaisho. She set a PR Saturday by clocking a time of 22:15.3 to finish 15
th overall. Four of UIC's next five finishers were freshmen. Sylvia Waz finished third among Flames and 30
th overall in 22:51.6. Junior Sahian Lopez was next ahead of newcomers Teresa Mejia, Abby Flammersfeld and Lexi Weltin.
The youthful Flames scored 144 points to finish. UIC was only four points behind sixth-place Northern Kentucky, and nine behind Youngstown State, which took fifth. Milwaukee was the top women's team, while Oakland's
Maggie Schneider (21:22.0) was the individual champion.
"To have four freshmen finish in our top seven is exciting for us to build on," said Lucas. "As with our entire team, we've seen this group progress well throughout the season and work hard to achieve their goals. Everyone gave the race everything they had, and as a coach, I can't ask for anything more."
Soon after the women crossed the finish line, the men took the course for an 8K competition. Flames redshirt senior
Brixton Rill earned All-Horizon League honors for the first time in his cross country career by taking 13
th place in 25:31.9, his best time ever at the distance. Just behind Rill, and two-tenths of a second ahead of the IUPUI runner behind him, came sophomore UIC
Carlos Cabrera. He clocked in at 25:34.4 to join Rill on the All-Conference Second Team.
"Brixton [Rill] got out front with the leaders and he worked hard to achieve a PR and All-Conference honors," said Lucas. "This was his third time on this course for the conference championship so we told him to go out and make the most of the opportunity. He did that exceptionally well. Carlos [Cabrera] charged hard and finished with an outstanding kick to grab the first All-Conference honor of his career."
Walmer Saavedra was the third Flame to get home Saturday, running in 26:19.2 to finish 30
th overall. He was just in front of
Chris Joseph, who grabbed 35
th in 26:41.9.
UIC placed fifth among the nine men's teams with 129 points. Detroit Mercy's
Ben Kendell was the individual champion, though his Titans finished just behind the Flames. Youngstown State had the second and third-place finishers on the men's side and the Penguins won the team trophy.
Complete results from both races are available and linked in the blue box above.
UIC will shift its attention to the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will be held at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill., on Friday, Nov. 9. It is the same course the Flames visited earlier this month for the Bradley Pink Classic.
Â
