University of Illinois Springfield men's cross country runner Blake Jones repeated as GLVC Individual Cross Country Champion on Saturday in Romeoville, Ill. He is the 13th runner in conference history to win multiple cross country titles.
 
Jones finished the 8,000m race in a time of 23:49, breaking his school record for that distance by 17 seconds. It was the fastest time by a Prairie Star runner at the conference meet by 52 seconds. That time was also a new course record at Lewis University.
 
Jones trailed Southern Indiana's Noah Hufnagel by six seconds through 3,500m, but chased him down over the next 1,400m. Jones extended his lead over the next portion of the course and led by seven seconds at the 7,000m checkpoint. He then kept that lead for the final two minutes of his run, and defeated Hufnagel by seven seconds, as those two runners were the only ones out of the 162 finishers to come under 24 minutes.
 
Jones adds to his impressive collegiate resume. He has now earned four all-GLVC honors in cross country, and won his second GLVC Cross Country Runner of the Year award. In 2019, he also earned all-region accolades, and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship meet.
 
Including track and field, he has now captured eight all-conference awards, six GLVC individual championships, three GLVC Runner of the Year Awards, and one GLVC Freshman of the Year honor. In November, Jones will look to advance to the 2021 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, which would be his fourth national meet between cross country and track seasons.