For the past few weeks, Karen Harvey has been looking for the Illinois women’s cross country team to find its team chemistry. Now with the biggest test of the season awaiting them at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, she said the team has found it at the right time – in part because of senior captains Cassie Hunt and Stephanie Simms. Harvey said she doesn’t know when it happened, nor does she know the day or even the hour, but she said it’s here now for the ninth-ranked Illini.

“When you have that many newcomers who do so well, people don’t know what to think and they feel out of place,” Harvey said of the new freshmen runners, who helped change the dynamic for the team. “Everyone knows their role now.”

At the Big Ten meet in Bloomington, Ind., the Illini will be going up against five opponents ranked in the top 30. The Illini will face No. 3 Michigan, the defending Big Ten champion, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 13 Michigan State and No. 23 Iowa. Since coming to the United States from Canada, Harvey said she can’t remember a year where the Big Ten conference was as strong.

“I’ve been here since 1991 looking at this conference, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Harvey said.

Harvey said the race will be a battle between Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota for the team title. Illinois finished second at last year’s Big Ten Championships.

“In my heart, I say Michigan has the most talent, but they haven’t been running up to par,” Harvey said. “They looked better in the first two weeks than they do now.”

The Illini will race nine runners Sunday, including Hunt, Simms, juniors Maggie Carroll and Rachel Hernandez, sophomore Liz Mengyan and freshmen Angela Bizzarri, Shannon Phelan, Stephanie Baliga and Theresa Brokaw. With such a tight field, Harvey and the Illini know that they can only worry about themselves. A mental focus will be key, along with one surprise runner.

“As tight as this Big Ten race is, it will take one hero,” Harvey said. “Someone’s going to be a hero for one team and that’s going to make the difference.”

That exceptional performance could come from Bizzarri, who has been a surprise for the Illini all season. At the Pre-National meet on Oct. 14, Bizzarri shattered the Illinois 6K freshman record by almost 25 seconds with a time of 20:26. She finished the race 8th overall. Bizzarri finished just behind Wisconsin freshman Hanna Grinaker, who finished fifth. The two will battle it out for Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Even though the pressure is there, Bizzarri isn’t fazed by it.

“I try not to think about it that way,” she said. “I just try to think about going out and doing what I can do.”

Even with such dominant competition, the Illini are looking to use that to their advantage. Harvey said she has never felt so comfortable before a race.

“You’re going to have to work really hard to get in that top 10, top 15,” said Hunt, who took home the Big Ten title last year. “If everybody’s firing on all cylinders, I think there’s a good chance that we could have a lot of girls in the top 20, just give everybody else a run for their money.”