PEORIA, Ill. - The Illinois women's cross-country team took to Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Illinois for the NCAA Midwest Regional on a chilly Friday afternoon. Needing to finish amongst the top two teams to qualify for next weekend's NCAA Championship, the Illini finished 10th in the 28-team field with 321 points.

Fifth-ranked Iowa State won the team title, and a berth in the NCAA Championships next weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana, with 66 points. No. 20 Minnesota was the other team to punch their ticket to the national championship meet, finishing second with 125 points.

"I thought we had some real bright spots," explained head coach Scott Jones. "Amanda Fox ran a good race today. Colette Falsey had a little lapse in the middle but finished strongly by recovering. Alyssa Schneider's heart in going after it [with the leaders] was there."

Schneider led the way for the Illini, finishing 33rd in a time of 20:59.2. Fox was next into the chute for Illinois, finishing with a lifetime-best performance of 21:12.7. Falsey also had a career-best performance, finishing in 21:23.3 to claim 59th.

Hanna Winter was the fourth Illinois finisher, grabbing 72nd overall with a 21:29.5 showing. Britten Petrey finished in 21:51.4, good for 109th overall and fifth on the team. Chloe Schmidt (22:05.3) and Denise Branch (22:11.7) rounded out the Illini contingent. Schmidt finished 129th overall and Branch was 136th.

"I should acknowledge that today was Chloe's last race in an Illinois uniform," Jones acknowledged. "I want to make sure we express our gratitude to her for what she has done both on the course and off to help our program."

Courtney Frerichs of University of Missouri-Kansas City won the individual title in 19:58.6. Erin Teschuk from North Dakota State was the runner-up with a time of 20:07.3, while Monika Juodeskaite (20:08.4) of Oklahoma State took third.

"Coming into this year, I didn't know what to expect," said Jones. "With the exception of Alyssa, everyone that is on the team was going to be in a new role. We took many positive steps that didn't really manifest themselves in racing performances, but we're really close [to where we want to be]. We need to race with a little bit more confidence so each person can be 10 or 15 places higher. That's what we need to do to be in the mix and we're not that far away. "

ILLINOIS RESULTS (out of 222)
33. Alyssa Schneider, 20:59.2
48. Amanda Fox, 21:12.7
59. Colette Falsey, 21:23.3
72. Hanna Winter, 21:29.5
109. Britten Petrey, 21:51.4
129. Chloe Schmidt, 22:05.3
136. Denise Branch, 22:11.7

TEAM RESULTS (out of 28)
1. Iowa State - 66
2. Minnesota - 125
3. Bradley - 175
4. Tulsa - 180
5. Oklahoma State - 191
6. Missouri - 205
7. South Dakota - 244
8. Kansas State - 283
9. Oklahoma - 306
10. Illinois - 321