The Illini women’s cross country team will take a major step toward Big Ten and NCAA Championship competition Saturday when it heads to Terre Haute, Ind., for the first leg of the championship season.

The Pre-Nationals, set to run in sessions starting at 11:40 a.m. and continuing through the early afternoon, will pit Illinois against 22 of the top 30 teams in the country. The races will be conducted on the same course as the NCAA Championships in November.

“It’s kind of the big meet before the championship season starts,” head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. “I think the girls are ready. We’re Top 10 in the nation right now, we’ve stayed healthy and have been getting all our work in. We just have to learn from any mistakes we’ve made the last few weeks and run better than we have.”

The Illini finished seventh overall at Pre-Nationals last year and will compete in both the 6k and 8k races. The Illini will take on the top two teams in the country, Stanford and Colorado, as well as No. 6 Arizona and No. 8 Princeton.

Making up the Illini’s top seven runners in the event are Angela Bizzarri, Stephanie Baliga, Theresa Brokaw, Katie Engel and Rachel Hernandez. Canadian freshmen Danelle Woods and Chantelle Groenewoud have worked their way into the rotation and will round out the team’s competitors.

“I don’t want to speculate a specific time and a place where each of our runners will finish, although I have an idea where I think they should all be at the end,” Rasmussen said. “My biggest thing is for them to just move ahead, give it everything from the beginning to the finish line. That’s the biggest issue for them, to just keep moving.”

Illinois placed second at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago, led by the personal-best efforts of sophomore All-American Angela Bizzarri. Bizzarri, who finished second in that competition and set the record for freshmen at Pre-Nationals last year, said her teammates should be ready for the challenge, especially since none have been held back by outstanding injuries.

“I’m really excited because I think we’ve all been trying really hard,” Bizzarri said. “We’ve all been building up, getting everybody ready, and I think we’re going to put it all together.”