Louisville, Ky. – Dylan Lafond concluded his first season running for Coach Stewart's team by earning All-America. The redshirt-junior completed the 10K race in 30:18.2, finishing 29th overall. Lafond is the first to earn All-America accolades since Trent Hoerr placed 16th in 2007. Syracuse took home the team title, while Edward Cheserek of Oregion claimed the individual crown.
The finish comes on the heels of Lafond's first season running cross-country for the Fighting Illini. Lafond made his Illini cross-country debut on October 3 at the Greater Louisville Classic where he made an immediate impact, placing sixth overall and first on the team. Lafond's defining moment came at Big Ten Championships when he was the third runner through the chute, clocking the fastest 8K time (23:22.4) in school history. Lafond would earn an at-large bid to today's championship meet when he placed eighth at the Lawrence, Kansas NCAA Regional.
After transferring from the University of Mount Olive at the end of his sophomore season, the Manchester, New Hampshire native sat out the fall season before competing during the track season. In June of last season, Lafond earned All-America honors for his seventh-place performance at NCAA Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Today's performance concludes one of the best seasons' in recent program history. Coach Stewart led a team built on depth to the school's best finish at Big Ten Championships since 1989, and lowest point score since 1986. In addition to Dylan Lafond's First Team All-Big Ten honor, Jesse Reiser became the first Illini to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year in the award's history. The Illini will return five of the seven, and two of the top three, point scorers from the Big Ten Championships performance next season.
Up next for the distance group is the track season where they will look to defend last season's outdoor Big Ten title.
