Sept. 16, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- The No. 10-ranked Illinois women's cross country team is set to compete at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships this Friday at 5 p.m. CT. The 5K race takes place in Normal, Ill., at the Weibring Golf Course. There will be 23 other teams competing in the meet from schools all over the state. The Orange and Blue look to repeat as champions after placing first at this meet in each of the past two seasons.

"We are looking forward to competing and trying to win," cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "We don't know if we will be as strong as we have been in the past, but we are sure going to give it a try."

Competing in the meet is junior Ashley Thompson who had a great start to the season, coming in first for Illinois and third overall at the Illini Challenge. Juniors Maggie Mulchrone and Jamie Brusa will also be racing, as well as sophomore Amber Stack. The rest of the Illini competing in the championships are eight freshmen, who have continued to grow as runners throughout the early part of the season.

"We are finally getting into a flow of what is going on, not only in practice, but just feeling more comfortable with where we are at," Rasmussen said. "The good thing about our team is that we just go out and compete, which is what we are looking for every time."

A full recap and results can be found on fightingillini.com following the meet. After the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships, the Fighting Illini will have a weekend off before traveling to Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin Inter-Regional on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 4:15 p.m. CT.