In the 52nd running of the Notre Dame Invitational, the Fighting Illini men’s cross country team finished ninth, tying Liberty University in the 23-team competition. Although the team did not capture the meet’s title, the Illinois runners continued to show improvement during Friday’s race.

Leading the way for the Illini was senior Trent Hoerr, finishing the 8K race with a time of 24 minutes, 7 seconds, placing him sixth overall.

“Trent had a solid showing and continues to confirm his place as one of the top guys in the sport,” said head coach Wendel McRaven in a press release.

With Hoerr’s time, he placed sixth on the Illini’s 8K distance record list. The Morton, Ill., native also holds the number three spot on the Illinois record list with his performance at the Illinois Intercollegiate meet earlier this season.

Sophomore Jacob Nachel also found success in South Bend, Ind., finishing the race with a personal best time of 24:15. Nachel came in second for the Orange and Blue and finished 15th in the standings.

McRaven was pleased with Nachel’s performance and said the sophomore “stepped up for us and ran a great race.”

The rest of the Illini’s top five finishers included sophomore Jeremy Stevens (25:03), redshirt freshman Jared Richardson (25:13) and junior Tim Maier (25:21), placing 65th, 78th and 82nd, respectively.

Out of the 23 teams and 178 competitors, No. 13 Notre Dame captured the team title with 92 points. No. 10 North Carolina State and No. 11 Providence rounded out the competition’s top three.

Like McRaven said before the race, this meet gave the Illini a chance to run against good, tough competition. The team’s strong performance and level of physical fitness will help throughout this middle part of the season.

With three meets down and three scheduled meets to go, the Illini runners are looking to still make a name for the team and to move up in the national rankings.

“The end of the season really matters,” said McRaven, as he plans to keep pushing his athletes in practice.

Illinois’ next obstacle comes in 12 days when the team travels to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 13.