Head coach Karen Harvey says that in cross country you cannot be a September team, that you have to be an October team and a November team.

In training, she has made group goals for the team, not individual ones. The women have bought into her system of taking responsibility for their actions.

“Basically, our big thing right now is working together,” sophomore Rachel Hernandez said. “We all just need to get into the mindset that it’s not about our times, it’s about working for the team; if you see someone falling back, you need to pick up for them.”

Illinois, ranked 20th in the NCAA FinishLynx polls, will compete in the 50th annual Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., today. Juniors Cassie Hunt and Stephanie Simms will make their season debuts in South Bend.

The pair were impressive, however, in an early season time trial two weeks ago.

Hunt, a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season at the Big Ten Championship, and Simms, a second-team selection, are expected to lead the Illini. The Illini will also look to their trio of sophomores, Maggie Carroll, Katie Coppin and Rachel Hernandez, who completed a top-three sweep in the “Pack-It-Up” Challenge at the Arboretum on Sept. 17.

Together the group looks to run close and stay strong, just as they did in the home meet. The three sophomores finished the 5k race with times of 17:46, 17:52 and 18:09, respectively.

“Our big thing is to stay as a pack,” Coppin said. “We’ve been really working in practice to run strong together. It really doesn’t matter the first couple intervals, it’s how we finish as a pack together; that’s the crucial part.”

This race proves to be the Illini’s first true challenge of the young season. They face a number of ranked opponents – all ranked higher than them – No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Wake Forest and No. 18 Butler. Also included in the Illini’s Blue Division at 4:15 p.m. are midwestern rivals Indiana, Michigan State, Missouri, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Harvey expects big things from her team. She has talked about this particular race from the beginning, with hopes that the Illini can better their season finish from last year and prove to the nation they should be battling with the best.

“They better have their socks pulled way up high, ears pinned back,” Harvey said.