The Illini traveled to Peoria, Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana, to race in the Bradley Pink Classic at Newman Gold Course and compete at Pre-Nationals, respectively. The Illini are using each race to prepare for the Big Ten Championships and potentially Nationals. The team has noticeably improved, evident in their several team wins and podium appearances this season, including their third-place finish at Bradley on Friday.

The first to cross the finish line for the Illini was redshirt-sophomore Caroline Fix, who clocked a new personal best of 21:22.0 in the women’s 6K. She was the 10th woman to finish individually.

The next two to finish also placed in the top 20 overall, with each athlete clocking a new personal best. Senior Grace Rogers ran in with a time of 21:35.5, earning 17th place overall. Junior Katie Stapleton followed suite and crossed the line at 21:37.4, placing 19th overall and with a new personal record.

Freshman Katie Hohe finished fourth for the Illini at 22:03.0, placing 33rd overall. The last two Illini rounding out team scoring were freshman Brianna Lausev and junior Delaney Appino. Lausev placed 8th on the team with a finish time of 23:07.0

Head women’s cross country coach Sarah Haveman said the team performs day in and day out. According to Haveman, it’s all about taking it one race at a time. 

“The women did a wonderful job and it was a very productive day for us,” Haveman said.

Illinois divided and conquered this weekend, with some runners competing at the Bradley Pink Classic Friday and some running at Pre-Nationals the following day. This weekend Illinois faced ranked foes including No. 2 Brigham Young University, No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Michigan and No. 8 Washington, among others.

Illinois ran past No. 11 Boise State and No. 17 Ole Miss, placing sixth at Pre-Nationals with a team score of 268.

The Illini were led by junior Rebecca Craddock Saturday, marking her fourth time this season crossing first for Illinois. Craddock finished with a time of 20:44.2 and finished 33rd overall.

Second to finish was junior Allison McGrath who clocked in a personal best time of 20:55 and placed 45th overall. Next up was sophomore Madison Marasco who finished the scoring for the Illini, placing third and 55th overall with a time of 20:59.0. Sophomore Emma Millburn finished with a PR of 21:02.6 and placed 62nd overall.

Illinois will compete at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, November 3, hosted at the Ohio State University Golf Club. The women’s race is at 10:45 a.m.

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