Sept. 20, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The top seven athletes of the Fighting Illini women's cross country team will make their 2006 season debut Friday, Sept. 22, as they travel to Davenport, Iowa to compete in the 6,000-meter Brissman-Lundeen Invite hosted by Augustana College.

2005 Big Ten Athlete of the Year and three-time All-American Cassie Hunt and 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Katie Engel will jumpstart their season with Friday's competition, along with the powerful line-up of senior Stephanie Simms, junior Maggie Carroll, and highly-recruited freshmen Angela Bizzarri, Stephanie Baliga and Shannon Phelan.

Head coach Karen Harvey expects this race to be a good way for the girls to get back into competition form.

"Our main concern with this race is to not go out too fast," Harvey said. "There will be a huge field of runners and we'll need to get a clean start with a 5:45 pace. Every mile will be quicker, with the last mile being around 5:05."

The 6,000-meter race will also give the Illini an opportunity to warm-up for the Notre Dame Invite on Sept. 29 and solidify their positions in the traveling roster.

"This race will give our freshmen an opportunity to compete in the uniform," Harvey said. "We're going to concentrate on hitting times and running together until that last mile; then it's everyone for themselves. I look forward to seeing how the results come out."

The 2006 season marks the Orange and Blue's first team appearance at the Brissman-Lundeen Invite. However, the Orange and Blue's presence was felt in 2005 as former Illini Jamie Turilli claimed the open race title as an unattached individual.

Illini racing action will begin on Friday, Sept. 22, at 5:45 p.m. at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa. Illinois results can be found at fightingillini.com after the competition.