The Illinois women’s cross country team came into Sunday’s Big Ten Championship seeking revenge against rival Michigan.

While the team had to settle for second place to the Wolverines for the third time this season after falling to them earlier in the year at the Notre Dame Invite and the Pre-National Meet, junior Cassie Hunt stole the show earning an overall first-place finish.

Hunt’s time of 21:00 for the 6k race shattered the Big Ten Championship 6k record by over 30 seconds and made her the first woman in Illinois history to earn an individual title. In 2004, Hunt captured a fifth-place finish at Big Ten’s, a then-record individual finish by an Illinois runner.

Although Hunt is one of the best runners in the country, Harvey said she had been in a slump for much of the season.

“To see her come out of (the slump) and be her old self again, it was awesome,” head coach Karen Harvey said.

Junior teammate Stephanie Simms said Hunt deserved her title and that it was good to see “the little things didn’t get in her way.”

Hunt said that while the beginning of the season was “kind of rough, it was definitely a confidence booster and feels good to have reached that goal.”

Hunt ran head-to-head with Michigan’s Alyson Kohlmeir for the last two kilometers of the race, and Harvey said it was quite a race to watch.

“My plan was to just stay relaxed, my main competition was Kohlmeir,” Hunt said. “At the 5k, I took the lead, we worked on some things in practice to set up a strong finish, and the last drive to the finish went really well.”

Simms also had an impressive performance for the Illini as she finished with a time of 21:11 in fourth place. Simms improved upon her 2004 Big Ten finish by nearly 90 seconds, and missed medalling in the top-three by one-tenth of a second. Harvey said that while Simms may have been a bit disappointed having missed out on a medal, she knows that Simms ran her best after seeing her collapse at the end of the race.

“She knows she ran her brains out, she has got to be one of the most improved runners in the Big Ten,” Harvey said of Simms.

For Simms, who wanted to finish in the top five, the goal was to do whatever it took to achieve that place. But she also said that missing out on the third-place finish went through her mind the next day.

“I would have loved it (getting third), but fourth place isn’t bad either, coming from my 49th place last year,” Simms said.

Joining her two teammates for all-Big Ten honors, was true freshman Katie Engel, who finished in 13th place with a time of 21:37.

“Katie is proving to anyone who ever doubted her that she can run cross country,” Harvey said.

This was only the second time in school history that Illinois had three runners with All-Big Ten accolades. Last season, then-senior Jaime Turilli and Hunt garnered first-team honors, while sophomore Maggie Carroll received second-team honors after a 10th-place finish.

Rounding out the top five for Illinois on Sunday were sophomores Katie Coppin and Maggie Caroll, who finished with times of 21:44 and 22:00, in 18th and 24th places, respectively. Harvey said Coppin ran hard the entire way and was “killing herself.” But for the Illini, one key to not beating Michigan was the sub-par running of the fifth and sixth runners. Harvey remains optimistic.

“That hurt, but those girls will be ready for Regionals, and they will be there,” Harvey said.

Another bright spot for the Illini was freshman Jamie Kuhl who finished in 38th place, with a time of 22:38. Harvey said that Kuhl came to Illinois as “a little class-A girl” but has a “bright future.”

The Illini finished the race with 60 points to Michigan’s 42. The team’s performance on Sunday tied the program’s best finish at Big Tens with second set in 2004 and 1984. The Illini defeated four ranked teams: Minnesota (11), Michigan State (23), Indiana and Iowa (30).

The Illini will now look to focus their efforts on the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet in Iowa City on Nov. 12. The team’s goal for that race is to capture the team title, Hunt said.

“We have three more weeks to pull everything together, we’re definitely improving and we will continue to improve to NCAA’s,” Hunt said.