Oct. 28, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Illinois women's cross country team claimed a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, Oct. 28, as sophomore Angela Bizzarri led the Illini clocking a 6K personal-best time of 19:59 to finish third overall. All 11 conference schools were in attendance, including seven of the top 26 of the latest USTFCCA Top 30, Illinois holding the middle ranking ground coming in tenth.
"We ran well today but were a little disappointed in how the results turned out," cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "One of the things we haven't done all year is to really take a chance in one of races. Today we did that, and made a push between the 3K and 4K part of the race. We ran great through the 5K, but just didn't finish how we wanted to."
As the second scorer for the Illini behind Bizzarri, sophomore Katie Engel crossed the finish line taking 13th place overall with a time of 20:30, while freshman Danelle Woods finished in 24th with 20:55. Woods was the top freshman finisher in the conference race. Senior Rachel Hernandez clocked a 21:00, coming in 29th and freshman Chantelle Groenewoud crossed in 21:14 in 39th. Sophomores Theresa Brokaw and Shannon Phelan rounded out the Illini's top seven, coming in as 42nd and 49th, respectively. Nearly every member of the squad recorded 6K personal-bests, including Engel, Woods, Groenewoud, Brokaw and Phelan.
No. 10 Illinois accumulated 95 points, defeating three of the six other nationally ranked teams in attendance. No. 8 Minnesota took the championship title with a total of 72 points, dethroning the Michigan Wolverines from the top spot in the conference for the first time since 2000. No. 7 Michigan State followed by one point with 73, while No. 6 Michigan came in third with 90.
"We are competing in one of the best distance conferences in the nation," Rasmussen said. "So to finish fourth is bittersweet. Today's race is something we will learn from and we'll be better off down the road because of it."
The Orange and Blue will take a week to recuperate to prepare for the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional Meet in Peoria, Ill, on Nov. 10. They will look to qualify for the NCAA National Championships held a week later by finishing in the top two, or receiving an at-large bid.
Illinois results:
1) Angela Bizzarri (3) 19:59
2) Katie Engel (13) 20:30
3) Danelle Woods (24) 20:55
4) Rachel Hernandez (29) 21:00
5) Chantelle Groenewoud (39) 21:14
6) Theresa Brokaw (42) 21:18
7) Shannon Phelan (49) 21:35
Team results:
1) Minnesota 72
2) Michigan State 73
3) Michigan 90
4) Illinois 95
5) Iowa 103
6) Wisconsin 112
7) Penn State 159
8) Purdue 237
9) Indiana 280
10) Northwestern 288
11) Ohio State 330
