Women finish 2nd & Men 4th at Heartland XC Invitational

9/29/2023 - Normal, IL: The cross country teams traveled to Maxwell Park for the second time this season, this time for the Heartland XC Invitational. The invite is made up of only junior colleges which is usually something the Hawks only see in the postseason. The women finished second led by Lilly Alberts winning the race while the men were led by Albert Szewczyk who came in fourth.

Women
Alberts led seven Hawks as she won yet another race! This is her fourth individual win in a row. She started in second through the first mile but once she took the lead she never looked back. She ran a personal best for 5k with a time of 18:52. This was the fastest 5k in the women's team history edging out Ali Gutt's 18:58 from the 2015 NJCAA Regional Championship.Last season her best 5k was 19:33.

Claudia Wojciechowski was the second runner for the Hawks coming in seventh place finishing with a time of 20:32. The third and fourth runners for the Hawks were Kaili Decker and Kasey Ledinsky as both finished in the top 20 placing 12th and 17th. They ran 21:14 and 21:40.

Brianna Ruiz is starting to come on strong for the Hawks as she had her best race of the season. She rounded out the scoring for the Hawks placing 28th with a time of 22:33. Isabella Wojciechowski was right behind her coming in 29th with a time of 22:37.

Araxi Boghossian also raced for the Hawks finishing 45th place with a time of 27:58.

Men
Szewczyk led the way for the Hawks for the fourth straight time, coming in fourth. He finished with a time of 27:14.

Owen Whelan (11th, 27:54), Konrad Jakubowski (28th, 29:27), Eric Martinez (29th, 29:33), and Carter Swearingen (49th, 31:57) were the next four runners for the Hawks to make up their score. Martinez ran really strong and is progressing well for the Hawks. He is working hard to be a factor in their postseason roster.

Jose Guzman (55th, 33:08), Edwin Amaro (63rd, 34:15), and Christopher Gama (65th, 35:29) also raced for the men.

The Hawks race next on Friday, October 13th, at the Bradley Pink Classic, hosted by Bradley University at Newman Golf Course.

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Players Mentioned

Ali Gutt: Freshman

Owen Whelan: Freshman

Albert Szewczyk: Sophomore

Christopher Gama: Sophomore

Lilly Alberts: Sophomore

Kaili Decker: Sophomore

Brianna Ruiz: Sophomore

Araxi Boghossian: Sophomore

Claudia Wojciechowski: Freshman

Isabella Wojciechowski: Freshman

Eric Martinez: Freshman

Carter Swearingen: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ali Gutt
: Freshman

Owen Whelan
: Freshman

Albert Szewczyk
: Sophomore

Christopher Gama
: Sophomore

Lilly Alberts
: Sophomore

Kaili Decker
: Sophomore

Brianna Ruiz
: Sophomore

Araxi Boghossian
: Sophomore

Claudia Wojciechowski
: Freshman

Isabella Wojciechowski
: Freshman

Eric Martinez
: Freshman

Carter Swearingen
: Freshman