The men’s cross country team placed fifth at NCAA Regionals over the weekend in Peoria, Ill. In order to qualify as a team for NCAA Nationals, the Illini would have had to finish in the top two.

The team finished behind Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Iowa and Kansas, but Coach Paul Pilkington said the Illini were close to taking fourth or even third. Only 15 points separated Illinois from Kansas and only 47 points separated the Illini from the Hawkeyes.

Senior Andrew Carlson of Minnesota outran the pack and finished first overall, beating sophomore Big 12 champion Matthew Chesang.

Although finishing fifth means the team’s season is over, the top four runners that did not run for the top two teams were also eligible to qualify to run at Nationals. Junior Jason Bill placed fourth overall and will run at Nationals on Monday, Nov. 22 in Terra Haute, Ind. Expectations for Bill are high.

“My goal is to be All-American,” Bill said. “As long as my stomach is fine, I’ll be where I want to be.”

In order for Bill to be considered All-American, he must place among the top 30 American runners.

Pilkington said this goal is realistic.

“He’s one of the better runners in the country,” Pilkington said. “If he can get through the side stitch problem or if he isn’t affected by it, he’ll be an All-American.”

Bill was hampered by a side stitch problem at the Big Ten Championship and said it gave him trouble this past weekend.

“It gave me problems about halfway through, but I just tried to maintain my pace and get through it,” Bill said. “I was in the front of the pack and tried to stay up there for the rest of the race.”

Three of the team’s seven runners had 10,000-meter personal best times. The team’s only senior, Kris Cunningham, ran a personal best time of 31:18 and came in 23rd. Sophomore Trent Hoerr finished 35th with a personal best time of 31:30. Jon Houseworth finished 39th with a personal best of 31:37.

Bill and Cunningham earned all-region honors with their top-25 finishes.

Pilkington was satisfied with the team and the results.

“I’m pleased with the way they ran at the end of the year,” he said. “Ultimately, we gear up for good races at the end of the season and they did just that.”

Although the Illini missed qualifying for Nationals as a team, Bill said they’ve made improvements throughout the season.

“I thought we could’ve run a little better, but we made good progress from the Minnesota meet until now,” Bill said. “We’ve definitely improved, so that’s good.”