For the fourth consecutive year, the No. 12 Illinois women’s cross country team has received a bid to the NCAA Championships. Taking home second place honors behind Minnesota at Saturday’s Midwest Regional meet, the team has one more week to prepare for the National Championships.

“We accomplished the goal we wanted to going into the race today,” first-year head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said in a press release. “We finished second, which qualifies us for Nationals, and as far as that, I’m pleased.”

Cross country standout Angela Bizzarri also captured second place when she crossed the finish line with a time of 20 minutes, 3 seconds. Fellow sophomore Katie Engel (20:45) came in second for the Illini and 12th overall followed by freshman Danelle Woods (20:54) who finished 17th, rounding the top three Illini times.

With the strength of women’s cross country in the Big Ten, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa took the top three finishes. Out of the 25-team race, the Illini scored 91 points, just behind the 79 points the Golden Gophers scored.

Although the women wanted to capture the championship, the individual finishes showed the consistency they have had all year.

“We’ve had a really solid pack of runners in most of the races,” sophomore Stephanie Baliga said prior to the race. “Our second through fifth runners have been really close which has been really good for our score in meets.”

Baliga’s prediction of consistency proved true: Less than a minute separated the Illini’s second finisher’s time and their seventh finish.

Placing in the top four every race this season, the Illini are excited about the opportunity to improve upon their No. 12 national ranking at their final meet.

As a team, the women have one week left of practice before hoping to make an even stronger showing at the NCAA Championships. The team is focusing on having strong, fresh legs and being in the right state of mind.

The national meet will be held Nov. 19, at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.