Sept. 18, 2009

Illinois Intercollegiate Championships Complete Results

NORMAL, Ill. - The No. 10 Illinois women's cross country came in third place on Friday at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships, with a team score of 120 points. Junior Jamie Brusa led for the Illini and finished 11th overall, with a 5K time of 18:22.

"The team ran well today," women's cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "A lot of the girls improved on their times from last year at this meet, which is always positive. The other teams in the field are continuing to improve. I think every year the level of competition continues to rise and get better and better."

The Illinois Intercollegiate Championships marked Brusa's season debut, as well as the first meet she has competed in since the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships in the 2007 season.

Following Brusa was junior Ashley Thompson who came in 16th place overall with a personal-best 5K time of 18:32, which is a 21-second improvement over her previous personal-best 5K time. Also scoring for the Illini was freshman Meghan Murphy with a time of 18:58, and following right behind was junior Maggie Mulchrone with a time of 19:01.

Kristen Heckert of the University of Illinois-Chicago took home the crown at the meet, finishing with a time of 17:37 and helping her team to a fourth place showing. Illinois State took first place with five runners finishing in the top-ten.

The Orange and Blue will not be competing next weekend, and will spend the upcoming week working and building on the success they have already achieved in the first few weeks of the season.

"In the off week, we are going to continue the consistency that we have started over the summer and throughout the first few weeks of school," Rasmussen said. "We want to carry that consistency forward without any interruptions. We will be able to get some good quality work in during that time without having to race, which is always a good thing."

The Illini's next meet will be in Madison, Wis. for the Wisconsin Inter-Regional on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 4:15 p.m. CT.

Illinois Results
11. Jamie Brusa 18:22
16. Ashley Thompson 18:32
30. Meghan Murphy 18:58
32. Maggie Mulchrone 19:01
40. Kelsey Seiler 19:09
55. Madeline Aufmann 19:25
59. Amber Stack 19:29

Team Results (top five)
1.Illinois State 25
2.Loyola 77
3.ILLINOIS 120
4.University of Chicago 167
5.University of Illinois-Chicago 171