The Illinois women’s cross country team ran alongside seven nationally ranked competitors Friday to a second-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.

Unranked Rice University upset the field for the Invite title in the 52nd running of the race, and 21 teams competed in the event.

All-American sophomore, Angela Bizzarri, led the Illini with her 5K personal-best time of 16 minutes, 43 seconds in her first meet of the year. Bizzarri’s time was second fastest overall in the invite.

The closest Illini to Bizzarri’s time was Katie Engel, who clocked in at 17:31, 24th overall. Senior Rachel Hernandez crossed the finish line just inches behind her, finishing 25th.

“I think everyone was really excited because it was the first race for most of the girls that ran today,” Bizzarri said in a press release. “It’s hard to know how you are going to do until you get into a race situation, but I think everyone ran well and had a good race.”

Finishing behind the Illini was Florida State, third, while Michigan and Boston College rounded out the top five.

Head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said he expects better team finishes in weeks to come for Illinois but was pleased with how most of his players ran in their first race of the year.

“I think we went out a little fast today, but … we continued to compete and hold our place,” Rasmussen said. “Being second sets us up well for the rest of the year, but I think we have a lot more potential for the races to come. We haven’t changed our training at all, and we are going to continue to build on our strength to make sure we are running well at the end of the year.”

Sophomore Stephanie Baliga finished fourth for the Illini, 11 seconds behind Hernandez. Freshman Danelle Woods, the team’s top runner at the Illinois Intercollegiate two weeks ago, finished 52nd with a time of 17:52. Theresa Brokaw and Chantelle Groenewoud were the team’s final two competitors, finishing 61st and 70th in the invite.

Illinois will train throughout the next two weeks but will not compete again until Oct. 13 for the Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.