The Illinois women’s cross-country team took fourth place at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational on Saturday. The race was held on the banks of Lake Michigan in Chicago and featured 45 squads and more than 500 runners.
“We had a good first half of the race, we just didn’t seem to put it all together,” head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. “The course was what we expected. It was very windy, a lot off wind of the water.”
Rasmussen said earlier in the week that his goal for the team was a third-place finish.
Sophomore Meghan Frigo completed the 5K race in 17 minutes, 59 seconds, placing 18th overall and first for the Illini. This was the second time this season that Frigo has paced the Illini’s finish.
“Frigo did a good job,” Rasmussen said. “She’s been very reliable. She’s been someone who we can always count on, and I think she did a great job for us today.”
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Also finishing near the top for the Illini were juniors Courtney Yaeger and Madeline Aufmann. Yaeger finished 21st overall in her season debut with a time of 18:06. Aufmann finished just behind her at 18:12 for 23rd place.
Finishing behind Aufmann were freshman Britten Petrey (30th) and sophomore Katie Porada (34th).
Individually, University of Toronto runner Tamara Jewett finished in first place with a time of 17:08.
Along with the strong winds, the Illini faced the challenge of competing against a field of 538 runners.
“It was the most we’ve seen all year,” Rasmussen said. “So that was a pretty big challenge. The important thing was to get off to a good start and not get lost in the crowd. But I think we handled it well and I think they did a pretty good job.”
Taking first place in the meet was Big Ten foe Iowa. The No. 27-ranked Hawkeyes finished six runners in the top 10. They finished with 27 points, compared with the Illini’s 116.
“It’s not good when they put seven girls across the line before your first,” Rasmussen said. “But Iowa’s a strong team and we knew that coming in.”
The Illini have this week off and then have two meets scheduled for Oct. 14. They will split the squad between the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in Madison, Wis., and the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Ill. The Illini have these and one more meet until the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 30.
“We still have some things to work on,” Rasmussen said. “We really need to work on finishing the race strong, and that’s something that we’re going to be focusing on here in the next month as we look ahead to the Big Tens.”
