Chris DeSilva won the individual title for the Illini at the Illini Open on Friday at the Arboretum. The junior took the lead midway through the race and never looked back, finishing with a time of 25 minutes and 10 seconds.

Sophomore Hunter Mickow also had a strong performance, taking fifth overall with a finishing time of 25:27. A surprise for the Illini was the strong race by redshirt freshman Mark Donahue. Although his redshirt status meant he ran unattached at the event, he still placed seventh overall with a personal-best time of 25:37.

Senior Mike Murray, in the final home race of his Illini cross country career, took ninth place at 25:51. Freshman Drew Bell rounded out the Illini finishers with 34th place and a time of 27:32.

The Illini did not place in the team standings because they only ran four runners for the meet. Lewis took first in the team standings with 35 points, followed by Northern Kentucky and McKendree with 52 and 55 points, respectively.