BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Friday's H.W. Wright Classic cross country meet in Decatur, Ill., has been selected as this week's St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Week.
The meet, which is being hosted by Millikin University, features six teams from the SLIAC and they include Webster, Blackburn, Fontbonne, MacMurray, Principia and Westminster.
Webster's women, who are the two-time defending SLIAC Champions, enter this weekend's H.W. Wright Classic having already competed in two events and placing in the Top 5 at both of those events. Leading the way so far this season for the Gorloks has been junior Kalleigh Linthicum (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland), who has earned the SLIAC Women's Runner of the Week twice this season.
Webster's men come into this weekend having also run in two events this season and has had two Top 10 finishes in those events. Leading the way for the Gorloks so far this season has been freshman Cameron Sakuma (O'Fallon, Ill./Fort Zumwalt West), who has been WU's top finisher at each meet. In addition, Sakuma earned this season's Inaugural SLIAC Men's Runner of the Week Honor.
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At a Glance
This week's SLIAC Game of the Week is the H.W. Wright Classic hosted by Millikin University. The cross country event will be held in Decatur, Illinois on Friday, September 27 at the Scovill Golf Course. Six teams from the conference will be competing in the event. The men's race will be an 8K race beginning at 5:30 p.m. while the women's 6K race starts at 6:15 p.m.
Directions
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Blackburn College 'BEAVERS'
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Blackburn will be running in their fourth race of the fall and first since the Six Flags race on September 14th. Kathryn Chase has run in all three previous races for the Beavers and put together a top time of 23:17 back at the UIS Invitational. Unzell Pruitt leads the men's team and is coming off his best race of the season, a 7th place overall finish at the Six Flags meet where he finished with a time of 34:18
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Fontbonne University 'GRIFFINS'
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The Griffins men's team is paced by Domenick Blanchette, who has a team top time of 32:06 this season. He finished 5th at the Six Flags meet while his teammate Austin Joyce placed 9th with a time of 34:39. The women's team is led by a trio of runners that are all around the 24-minute mark; Taylor Aurand, Emily Bay, and Desiree Brooks.
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MacMurray College 'HIGHLANDERS'
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The Highlanders will be racing in their fourth event this season. Gabriel Sherrill and Zach Vespa have traded off top finishes for the Highlanders this season with both recording a team-best 8K time of 33:12 this season. The women's team is led by Christianna Bush who finished her only 5K race this season in a time of 23:00 flat, placing 29th overall at the meet.
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Principia College 'PANTHERS'
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The Panthers will be competing in their third race of the season and first since September 15th. In that race, an 8K event, Abe Ott led the men's team with a time of 28:06. He has been the top finisher for the team in both races this fall. On the women's side, Emme Shaefer has a team-best 6K time of 26:07 this season.
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Webster University 'GORLOKS'
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The Gorloks return to action for the first time since September 14th when they finished 8th at the Les Duke Invite on the men's side and 5th on the women's side. Linthicum took home top honors at the event with a 6K time of 23:59 and has paced the Gorloks in each of their previous two events this fall. Likewise, Sakuma has been the top male runner in each of the previous two races and is coming off an 8K time of 28:14.
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Westminster College 'BLUE JAYS'
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Westminster will be competing in their third event this fall. They are led by Sam Moore on the men's side, with two top team finishes, and a time of 31:51 in his only 8K race this fall. Charlotte Blair and Cara Wilfong have each led the women's team with one top finish while Cara Wilfong has a team-best time of 22:56 this fall.
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