Going into the weekend, the Illini men’s cross country team had visions of major success for both the Adidas Wisconsin Invite and the Bradley Classic.

The invite offered Illinois a chance to prove that its cross country team deserves national recognition, while the Classic presented an opportunity to show its depth as a team.

These two meets had mixed results: the Illini took 20th in a competitive field of 36 in Madison, WisconsinRB, and finished first in the less competitive race in Peoria, IllinoisRB. While the weekend might not have been the huge leap forward the Illini were hoping for, head coach Jake Stewart didn’t see it as a step backward.

“There were certainly good things that happened at both races,” Stewart said. “We are very much pleased with the weekend.”

Junior Dylan Lafond led the way in Madison, taking 22nd and logging 23:53 as his 8,000 meter time – more 30 seconds ahead of the nearest IlliniRB. Next to finish for Illinois was senior Ian Barnett in 93rd and redshirt freshman Zack Smith in 99thRB. Smith bested his time at last week’s Greater Louisville Classic by 31 secondsRB.

Illinois placed fifth among Big Ten teams, behind Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and the meet host, WisconsinRB.

In Peoria, however, the Illini were the best in the field, resulting in their second first-place finish of the season and an encouraging sign for the strength of their runners who fall outside of the top sevenRB. Redshirt freshman Dan Lathrop had the team’s best finish, taking fourthRB. Additionally, two other Illinois runners, senior Paul Zeman (sixth) and sophomore Alex Gold (eighth)RB placed in the top-10. The Illini defeated two Big Ten opponents — Iowa and Nebraska — who were running their “A-team.”RB

“I think those guys ran great,” Smith said. “That speaks to the depth of our team this year. We can go out at Wisconsin and run well, and just as many guys can go out to Bradley and run well.”

Moving forward, the Illini will host one final meet, the Illini Open, this Friday before competing in the Big Ten ChampionshipsRB.

The weekend gave the Illini a pretty good idea of where they stand among Big Ten opponents: They weren’t very far behind usual conference powerhouses Indiana and Wisconsin. The Illini were confident that they were going to surprise people at the Adidas Wisconsin Invite and make a name for themselves, but that narrative could actually be farther down the line when the Illini race in the conference championships on Nov. 1RB.

“I think we can compete with anyone right now,” Smith said “The Big Ten is a very strong conference in general. Teams like Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana have been historically good. There is no reason why in two weeks we can’t get our guys right up there with theirs.”

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