The women’s cross country team started off its season finishing third at home in the Illini Challenge on Friday.

Rend Lake freshman Lilian Lagat won the 4K race with a final time of 14:41.38, while the Orange and Blue’s top finisher was Junior Elizabeth Boyle, who finished third overall with a time of 14:50.54.

Illinois State University won the meet, and Rend Lake finished ahead of the Illini by just two points.

“The majority of the group improved from last year, it’s always nice to see that,” said head coach Jeremy Rasmussen about his team’s performance. “I think we’ll be able to start from here and move forward.”