PEORIA, Ill. - After nearly three weeks away from competition, the Illinois women's cross country team showed they put the extra practice to good use. At the Bradley Classic on Friday evening, the Illini captured the team title with 90 points, outdistancing runner-up South Dakota (110) by 20 points.

"Today is certainly a step in the right direction," said head coach Scott Jones. "We have some things we still need to work on, but there is still time to address those areas. I think ours girls moved up very nicely throughout the race today. We can continue to work on running together and being in better position early in the race. In this environment it can be difficult to find your teammates, but that is something we are going to have to do come November."

Once again, Alyssa Schneider led the Orange and Blue, finishing third overall in 20:49.4. Colette Falsey (21:39.1) and Hanna Winter (21:48.1) each registered top-20 finishes, claiming 15th and 19th, respectively. Amanda Fox just missed cracking the top 20, grabbing 22nd in a time of 21:52.6. Britten Petrey was the fifth runner into the chute for Illinois, taking 31st with a 22:04.9 showing. Valerie Bobart (22:28.8) and Denise Branch (22:31.6) rounded out the top seven for Illinois.

Maria McDaniel of Western Michigan was the individual winner, maneuvering around the course in 20:41.6. South Dakota's Amber Eichkorn earned runner-up status with a time of 20:45.9, edging Schneider by less than four seconds.

"Next Friday is our home meet and it will be a good opportunity to run on our own course one more time," stated Jones. "Our trajectory is still pointing in a good direction heading towards the Big Ten meet in November. We are really eager to get to that meet and race against some of the best teams in the country."

As Jones mentioned, the Illini will be back in action in exactly one week, as they will play host to the Illini Open on Friday, Oct. 24 at the UI Arboretum. The women's race is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and will be followed by the men's race.

ILLINOIS RESUTLS (out of 294)
3. Alyssa Schneider, 20:49.4
15. Colette Falsey, 21:39.1
19. Hanna Winter, 21:48.1
22. Amanda Fox, 21:52.6
31. Britten Petrey, 22:04.9
61. Valerie Bobart, 22:28.8
67. Denise Branch, 22:31.6
73. Chloe Schmidt, 22:36.1
90. Samantha Lapp, 22:46.8
131. Megan Lemersal, 23:06.3
139. Lindsey Rakosnik, 23:10.8
193. Courtney Ackerman, 23:39.5

TEAM RESULTS (out of 30)
1. ILLINOIS - 90
2. South Dakota - 110
3. Illinois State - 122
4. Marquette - 135
5. Saint Louis - 212