Schrobilgen Second At USA Cross Country Championships



Malachy Schrobilgen had a chance to run the Forest Park Central Fields course the day before the USA Cross Country Championships in St. Louis. He got a good feel for the course and where the harder parts would be. The former Oak Park-River Forest standout and current University of Wisconsin freshman knew that if he was to be succesful in his first time in this meet and second time ever running the 8k distance he would have to sit back and let the others do the work. That is exactly how the race played out. According to meet director Ben Rosario, a group of about 30 were together through the 6k mark, 15 through 7k , and then down to six that made it a sprint to the finish. He says he wanted to sit back and then make his move at the end.

"I knew I was in really good shape coming in to the race and I expected myself to compete with the top guys in the field. I was definitely pleased with my finish and I was glad that I was competitive coming down the final straight-away."

Schrobilgen crossed the line in second place behind Oklahoma State freshman Craig Nowak with a very impressive 24:51.20. The runner-up spot earned him a trip to Poland to compete with Team USA for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March where he will be joined by the complete top six finishers. He says he has never have left the country and is looking at this trip as a chance to travel abroad and see another part of the world.

"I'm really excited to be able to represent my country which is a great honor. I'm also excited to meet new people abroad and from different parts of the world who also share my love for racing."

Only in his first year for the Badgers he realizes this is just one more experience to add to the resume. He says he hopes to learn more and more and grow as a runner as the years' go on.

"Everything I've done since coming to Wisconsin has been a part of the process of getting better each day. I think I have a better idea now of what kind of shape I'm in and what I'm capable of on the race course."

Former Grayslake Central runner Will Brewster, now a freshman at the University of Illinois. O'Fallon senior Alex Riba was 58th. 

Derrick's Pro Debut Results In Win

Former Neuqua Valley and Stanford star Chris Derrick had a great professional debut. He won the men's race over some of the top distance runners in the U.S. like Matt Tegenkamp and Dathan Ritzenhein. In a race that was 20-30 deep through 8k, the three began to separate at the 10k mark. Meet Director Ben Rosario says they came through the last 2k in 5:41 (which is moving) when Derrick turned on the after burners and ran away with it with 1000 meters left. All three runners hailed from the Midwest, but Derrick had perhaps the biggest cheering section, with most of his family and friends making the five hour drive from Naperville.

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