Nov. 15, 2007

Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's cross country team gears up for its fourth-consecutive trip to the 2007 NCAA National Cross Country Championships on Monday, Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. The championships will be hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Family Sports Complex. Championship events will kick-off with the men's 10K race at noon, followed by the women's 6K race at 12:55 p.m. ET.

"Going into the meet our goal is to place in the top ten," cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "Our current ranking is tenth in the nation, but I think we have the potential to place better than that. It is going to take a total team effort from our first to our seventh runner."

The No. 10 Illini will face their toughest challenge of the season as they face off against the top-30 teams in the nation, as Stanford, defending NCAA Champions, lead the field in the national poll in first. Six of those top teams going into the national championships hail from the Big Ten conference, all of which are ranked in the top 25. Big Ten champions No. 5 Minnesota lead the league rankings, followed by No. 7 Michigan State, No. 9 Michigan, No. 10 Illinois, No. 20 Iowa and No. 21 Wisconsin.

"If we can go out and compete like we have all year we should do well," Rasmussen said. "We need to try and keep our split from our first to fifth runner under 60 seconds. If we can do that, we will do very well as a team. We have worked well in groups all year long, and it is imperative that we stick together on Monday and help each other through the race. There will be a lot of women in the race and being able to run with teammates will help their confidence and poise."

This year will mark the fourth-consecutive trip to the championships by the Illini. At last year's competition, sophomore Angela Bizzarri led the way for the Orange and Blue's eighth-place finish coming in 24th overall and garnering All-American honors. In 2005, the Illini took home fifth-place, which stands as the program's best finish.

Thirty-one teams qualified to participate in the NCAA Championships, either finishing in the top two at their regional or receiving an at-large bid by the NCAA committee. In addition, the first four individuals from each region who were not members of a qualifying team along with two individuals who received at-large bids will participate, bringing the field of runners to 255.

Complete NCAA Championship results and a recap of the performance can be found at ncaasports.com, while Illini results will be available on fighitngillini.cstv.com following the meet. The competition will be available for viewing on CSTV.