The Illini were back in action at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Friday. It was their first away race of the season after competing in the Fighting Illini Invitational at the end of August.
While neither the men’s nor women’s team placed within the top ten, three Illini earned top-five spots in the program’s record book.
In the women’s 5K, graduate student Nora Wollen (16:43.5) led the Illini, and junior Avril Andre finished right behind her at 16:44.4. The duo’s times rank No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in program history.
In the men’s 8K, sophomore Adam Patel finished his second collegiate race at 23:43.0, fourth-best in program history.
Team results
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The Illini sent eight runners to Notre Dame for the women’s 6K invitational. The team finished No. 12 in a field of 20, 46 points behind eleventh-place UNC-Charlotte.
Wollen and Andre were the clear frontrunners for the team, finishing back-to-back at No. 19 and No. 20, respectively. The two accounted for 37 points. Rounding out the top three, freshman Mireya Bugeja clocked a time of 17:35.9, placing No. 103.
Illinois sent six to compete in the men’s 8K. The Illini again finished No. 12 out of 18 with a score of 306.
Patel led the way for the young team, which consisted of five underclassmen and graduate student Joshua Daggett. Daggett finished less than 10 seconds behind Patel with a time of 23:51.9.
Sophomore Jackson Barrett had a strong finish to end up as the third Illini runner. Barrett passed the 1K check No. 105 but ended No. 61 with a time of 24:04.6.
What’s next
Illinois returns Saturday, Oct. 18, when the team heads to Columbia, Missouri, for pre-nationals.
Both teams did well at pre-nationals last season. The men’s team placed No. 2 in the 8K “B” race behind Purdue. With only two members of that squad returning — Daggett and senior Brady Masters — this will be a major test for the young Illini.
The women’s team placed No. 8 in the 6K “B” race behind Indiana. The team is also returning only two of last year’s runners: Andre and junior Mabry Bruhn.
