The Fighting Illini men’s cross country team is sure of one thing – there must be improvement this weekend.

After a disappointing ninth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last Sunday, the Illini are ready to rebound at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Oklahoma on Saturday.

“One of our biggest problems this season has been translating our training into our racing,” head coach Wendel McRaven said. “We need to prove how well we can perform in this race.”

Some of the nation’s top talent will be on display at the event. The Illini will face Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Tulsa and Iowa State, all respectable opponents.

It is a long shot for the Illini to qualify for the NCAA Championships, but they hope to place as high as possible. Their best chance at an individual qualifier is junior Jeremy Stevens, who has been the leading runner all year.

“This race is a new experience for me. So far the season has not gone as well as I wanted it too, and I hope that I can qualify for the National Championship,” Stevens said.

The hilly course is fairly challenging, McRaven said. As an NCAA event, the race is a 10K – two kilometers longer than most events.

“We have had a lot of difficult races and now we have just been focusing on training and getting ready for this weekend and this course,” freshman Nathan Troester said.

The relatively young team has been training hard all season and focusing on improvement and experience. Freshmen Troester, Kyle Engnell and twins Colin and Hunter Mickow are all competing and will prove to be assets to the team in the future, McRaven said.

“We want to feel like we are a better team by improving our racing time and running well,” McRaven said. “This race will set the tone for the future.”