40 redbird magazine | august 2011

The Illinois Intercollegiate Before the rise of a Harvest Moon in mid-September, distance runners from all around the state of Illinois, along with their family and friends; flock to the Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University for a recharged cross country tradition – the Illinois Intercollegiate. The Illinois Intercollegiate was a mainstay on the cross country and track and field circuit for years. It was the be-all and end-all for state bragging rights, until it disbanded after the 1985-86 season. “Comparing it to other states that have intercollegiate championships, Illinois was one of the strongest around the country,” Illinois State head cross country coach Jeff Bovee said. “Then after 1985, some teams just stopped coming and that is when it just shut down.” In 2007, Bovee was working with Redbird track and field head coach Elvis Forde to secure a home meet on their schedule; little did they know they were resurrecting history. “When I first got (to Illinois State) we did not have any home cross country meets,” Bovee said. “In sitting down with Coach Forde and our staff, we tried to think about how we could get a viable meet (on campus). As I got to talking to some of the bigger players around the state, they were excited about the idea (of bringing the Illinois Intercollegiate back) and Illinois State hosting because of the proximity and location of our school and the course at the Weibring Golf Club.” The initial response from around the state was overwhelming, as 23 programs in Illinois sent teams or individuals to run in the first edition of the renewed Illinois Intercollegiate. The event continued to grow year after year, in addition to the 100-plus volunteers, but there were challenges considering the Redbird coaches went from not hosting a home meet to conducting the biggest event in the state. “There have been some growing pains for all of us,” Bovee said. “(Hosting this event) requires a lot of different entities to come together and there is no doubt that in those first two years, we were learning a lot, and we are still learning. Each year it goes a lot smoother, and we try to enhance what we do from one year to the next, but no doubt the first year or two we kind of had to iron out some issues to adapt to hosting such a large number of teams.” The department has adjusted and on September 16, Illinois

written by Todd Koberassociate athletics director for athletics communications

State will host its fifth-straight Illinois Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship, featuring nearly 1,000 student-athletes from all levels running for cross country programs state-wide. “It is exciting for the student-athletes to continue their high school rivalries,” Bovee said. “If you look at most of the programs around the state of the Illinois, the majority of the student-athletes on the teams come from high schools within the state. So for them to continue some of those rivalries regardless of if they go to a Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA or junior college program, it is exciting for them.” The Illinois Intercollegiate occurs long before the conference championship or the national championship, but there is still

Aisha Praught

continued on page 42

40 redbird magazine | august 2011

42 redbird magazine | august 201142

something really special about this event. “Anytime you talk about the state bragging rights, there is a lot at stake,” Bovee said. “With us being at home, we are always going to want to represent the University as well as we can and we want to put a great product out there. We want to try to win the championship on both sides as often as we can and that is a difficult task when you are talking about quality programs around the state.” It’s not just the competitors from those quality programs who are anxious to return to the course on the Weibring Golf Club, but also the fans. Both the courses for the women’s and men’s races are laid out with the fan in mind. “When we went to lay the course out, (Coach Forde and I) came up with the design,” Bovee said. “Our goal was to have it loop around several of the fairways down to the clubhouse, so that (the fans) can jump from one

fairway to the next. Even if they can’t move as well as others, you can see the runners a good quarter mile away. For the women, you can see a good mile of the race just by standing in one spot, and for the men, you are going to be able to see a couple miles of the race. I think it is very spectator friendly.” Not only is the viewing of the race generous to the spectators, but so are the storylines and the caliber of student-athletes in the race. Two-time men’s champion and course record holder Steve Sambu (2008 and 2009), who ran for Rend Lake Community College, finished second overall at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships while competing for Arizona. Illinois’ Trent Hoerr, who won the men’s race in 2007, earned All-American honors that same season in cross country, while Michael Spain, who won the 2010 event running for North Central, finished his career as a three-time All-American. Spain will be back at the 2011 Illinois Intercollegiate, this time as a graduate assistant coach with Illinois State. On the women’s side, Rend Lake’s Pasca Cheruiyot claimed the title in 2007 and went on to earn All-America honors at Florida State. Illinois’ Kristin Sutherland won the event in 2008 and just missed All-America honors a year later; while Northwestern’s Audrey Huth came out on top in last year’s race and went on to set the Wildcat school record for a 6K race at the NCAA Midwest

Regional. Bovee agrees that one doesn’t even have to be an avid follower of the sport to appreciate this event.

“Even for someone who is not an avid runner, or doesn’t know much about the collegiate cross country scene,

this is an event,” Bovee said. “Cross country to me is unique from track and field, in that there are just two races. There is a women’s race and a men’s race and they are both a very short time period. “(The Illinois Intercollegiate) is a beautiful day on a beautiful golf course. You get to be active, moving

around and watching the competition. Just to see student-athletes pour their hearts out there for their teams and compete – to watch those kinds of efforts is a lot of fun.” The competition is fun to watch and the stakes are high. Not everyone can boast they are the best in the state; they have to win the Illinois Intercollegiate to prove it.

42 redbird magazine | august 2011

continued from page 40

Mat Smoody