Oct. 13, 2005
Illinois women's cross country will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday to compete in the Pre-National Meet to take on some of the best competition in the country. Head coach Karen Harvey's squad goes into the meet ranked fifth in the nation by the NCAA FinishLynx polls and first in the Midwest in the WICCCA Regional Rankings.
"We will be challenged by some heavy hitters from Colorado (7), Arizona State (6), Michigan (2) and Princeton (15)," Harvey said. "The reason we run at the Pre-National Meet is to race against the best, so there are no surprises [at Nationals]."
The Fighting Illini are looking to improve upon their 11th place finish from 2004. The team will be lead by juniors Cassie Hunt and Stephanie Simms. Sophomores Maggie Carroll, Katie Coppin and Rachel Hernandez and freshmen Katie Engel and Liz Mengyan will round out the Illinois pack of talented runners.
"We have been working on our late stage race strength and some pack strategy for a few weeks now," said Harvey. "It will be time to test ourselves on Saturday. Everyone is healthy and ready to go. "
Junior Lisa Phillips and sophomore Jamie Kuhl will also compete in the 6K Women's Open Race at 2:10 p.m.
The Orange and Blue will begin the 6K White race at 12:55 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Complete Illini results can be found at www.fightingillini.com following the event.
