The Illinois men’s cross-country team will run its last regular season meet of the season as it hosts the Illinois Open at the UI Arboretum.

The Illini are coming off a weekend that saw Jannis Toepfer, Liam Markham, Ian Barnett, Brendan McDonnell, Will Brewster, Paul Zeman, Luke Carroll, Ryan Burgoon and Jon Vaccaro all set personal bests over two races and knock off six nationally ranked teams. Head coach Jake Stewart said the team is looking to carry that progress into Friday’s race.

“That’s our guys not making the decision to settle in the middle of the race,” Stewart said. “We’re committing to the middle of the race and it leads to that success.”

After beating six nationally ranked teams at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Saturday, the Illini came within two points of re-entering the top 30 teams in the nation in the polls that came out Tuesday. Earlier this season, Illinois cracked the top 30 for the first time in 15 years, only to fall out of the rankings after a poor race.

“Rankings are rankings,” Toepfer said. “I don’t necessarily agree with them. They’re just for other people to look at.”

Friday marks the first full-length home meet this season for Illinois. The Illini also hosted the Illinois Challenge on Aug. 30, a 6K race in which they took first overall over the club team and Hannibal-LaGrange.

The UI Arboretum, located at the southeast corner of Florida and Lincoln avenues, features an eight kilometer path that winds around a pond, through a walnut grove, over a hill and past the President’s House and the Hartley Garden.

“I don’t think we’ll have much of an advantage, honestly,” Stewart said. “With the field that’s in place and the level of competition, there’s not an advantage one way or the other.”

The field this Friday includes in-state oppoents Eastern Illinois, Loyola and Bradley as well as 10 unattached runners.

After the Illini Open, the team will begin the postseason with the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind., on Nov. 3. 

Thomas can be reached at [email protected].