When the Illinois men’s cross country team competes at the Midwest Region Championships on Saturday, it will be in a familiar situation. Last year, after a 10th-place finish at the Big Ten meet, the Illini followed it up at the Midwest meet with a seventh-place performance. Illinois ran against 30 teams at that race.

Two weekends ago at the Big Ten Championships, the Illini came out flat once again – this time finishing in eighth place. Hoping they can match the same result as in 2005, the Illini will look to redeem themselves.

Illnesses to senior Jason Bill and junior Trent Hoerr have affected the Illini in the last few meets, but head coach Wendel McRaven said the team is finally healthy.

“The guys have been looking good in training,” McRaven said. “There’s a little bit of pride on the line. The Big Ten meet left a bad taste in their mouths, and the guys are definitely ready to get rid of that.”

A majority of the Big Ten, including No. 1-ranked Wisconsin, will run in the Great Lakes Region. But Illinois will take on some of the top-rated teams in the Big 12. The top two teams from each of the nine regions automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 20 in Terre Haute, Ind. Thirteen at-large teams will also be announced on Nov. 13, along with four individual competitors from each region, who must finish in the Top 25.

“The teams in the mix, Minnesota is the favorite based on national rankings, along with (No. 20) Kansas (No. 23) Oklahoma State and Iowa State,” McRaven said. “But Missouri is probably thinking the same thing as us that they’re not too far out (of contention).

“It’s probably the toughest the Midwest region has been since the regions were changed 10 years ago.”

Illinois will rely on Bill, Hoerr, freshman Jeremy Stevens and junior Dan Stock, who individually qualified for last year’s NCAA championships with a 19th-place finish and a time of 31:30 for the 10K race. Senior Maciej Sniegorski, redshirt freshman Rob Pykosz and junior Mike Kelley will also compete for the Illini.

When Illinois begins its race at 12:15 p.m. at the Les Bolstad University Golf Course on Minnesota’s campus, the Illini will have four runners who could individually qualify for the national meet, McRaven said. Bill individually qualified for Nationals in 2002 and 2004, Hoerr was five seconds away from qualifying for Nationals in the 10,000 meter race in track last season and Stevens has proven all along that he has potential, the coach said.

“The team is not happy with the way they ran at Big Tens. We just have to run well and execute our race plan,” McRaven said. “We just have to let the chips fall where they may, and we’ll be happy about it.”