Throughout the month of September, Illinois men’s head cross country coach Jake Stewart has run a plethora of different lineups, trying out new runners, veterans and transfers alike in hopes of finding a perfect mix.

This Friday, The Brissman-Lundeen Invite in Rock Island, Illinois, will be the last place to try out radically different lineups with the fastest runners not competing. From this point on, the meets get tougher and the times get faster, and the Illini will match the increase in competition with their full-strength lineups.

“We knew this would be an opportunity for some of the guys who we didn’t project being in the top seven in Louisville to get another competitive race in,” Stewart said.

The one exception to Stewart’s description of the lineup is Ian Barnett, the Illini senior coming off an injury. Barnett was regularly a top finisher for Illinois last year and was hoping to run earlier in the year at the Spartan Invite, but a sore glute pushed his season debut until this week.

“I’m just going to try to open up a little bit and get that cross country race mentality going,” Barnett said. “I’m going to go for the win, and I feel that as a team we can go for the win as well.”

With Barnett likely leading the charge for the Illini in the Brissman-Lundeen Invite, his performance is critical in figuring out just who Illinois will be running as its season starts buckling down in late October.

“Ian’s a guy who likes to have a race or two under his belt before he enters the primary portions of his season,” Stewart said. “He likes to have a race to get back into a routine and a competitive environment.”

Barnett isn’t the only player of consequence in Friday’s meet. While every Illini runner will be critical, fellow senior Jereme Atchison is an especially intriguing member, according to Stewart.

Atchison has an injury-plagued past, but in last Friday’s meet, he ran at a pace that pleased both himself and Stewart. This Friday, Atchison looks to put his rough past behind him and add to the momentum that he garnered in East Lansing.

The Illini won’t be racing against any slouches, even though Friday’s invite won’t feature as many big names as previous meets. The event’s host, Augustana College, has placed first in its past two events, and almost ran a perfect meet Sept. 4, having runners place first, second, third, fifth and sixth.

Beyond that, Illinois will find itself pitted against a wide array of smaller schools from across the Midwest.

“I just want the guys to compete hard and race well.” Stewart said. “Our main concerns and main objectives our what we are doing to build towards the end of October early November.”

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