Photos | lllini Open Results
URBANA, Ill. - After winning the Bradley Classic one week ago, the Illinois women's cross country team got back to its winning ways at the Illini Open on Friday. The Orange and Blue took the team title, while Colette Falsey earned the individual victory.
"Our approach and execution were the focus, and I am very pleased with our performance tonight," explained head coach Scott Jones. "Physically and mentally, there is a real benefit to having success. It builds your confidence and every athlete needs to have confidence, so I think that was a very big boost for us."
Falsey broke the tape in a time of 17:44.47, nearly 13 seconds ahead of Colleen Weatherford of Butler. Hanna Winter (18:14.78), Britten Petrey (18:22.37) and Chloe Schmidt (18:29.10) were the second, third and fourth runners for the Illini, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Valerie Bobart, the Orange and Blue's fifth runner, garnered a 10th-place finish with a time of 18:48.35. Megan Lemersal (18:58.26) and Nicole Choquette (19:06.54) rounded out Illinois' top seven.
"Colette won her second college cross country race, and she basically matched the time Alyssa Schneider put up on this course earlier in the year," noted Jones. "That was a big step forward for her. Hanna, Britten and Chloe all ran smart races, moving up throughout the race. Overall, it was a good day for us."
The Illini tallied 25 points to earn the win, easily outdistancing second-place Bradley's 78 points. Northwestern (79), Butler (115) and Loyola (125) rounded out the top five.
Jones' squad will be back in action a week from Sunday, as they head to Iowa City, Iowa for the Big Ten Championships. The Illini finished ninth a year ago and will be looking to improve upon that performance. This year's competition begins at 10:45 a.m. at Ashton Cross Country Course.
"Next week is going to be a great race with some of the top teams in the country. We want to capture some of the energy from being in such a good competition. We certainly want to improve on last year's ninth-place finish. We want to go in and race like we did today. We'll do our best and then see where that stacks up."
ILLINOIS RESUTLS (out of 77)
1. Colette Falsey, 17:44.47
4. Hanna Winter, 18:14.78
5. Britten Petrey, 18:23.37
6. Chloe Schmidt, 18:29.10
10. Valerie Bobart, 18:48.35
15. Megan Lemersal, 18:58.26
21. Nicole Choquette, 19:06.54
26. Samantha Lapp, 19:16.32
31. Courtney Ackerman, 19:21.81
37. Lindsey Rakosnik, 19:28.28
TEAM RESULTS (out of 7)
1. ILLINOIS - 25
2. Bradley - 78
3. Northwestern - 79
4. Butler - 115
5. Loyola - 125
6. Purdue - 131
7. Eastern Illinois - 170
