TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - No. 20 Fighting Illini women's cross country placed sixth at the Pre-National Invitational at Indiana State on Saturday. The Illini finished with a team score of 268, beating out both No. 17 Ole Miss (376) and No. 11 Boise State (383). No. 20 Illinois topped four USTFCCCA nationally-ranked opponents in total, also defeating No. 26 Boston College (358) and No. 30 Oklahoma State (380).
"The women did a wonderful job and it was a very productive day for us," said Illinois head cross country coach Sarah Haveman. "We are on a great path of working on things we need to and getting better each time out."
The Illini were led once again by junior Rebecca Craddock. Her fourth time this season crossing first for the Orange and Blue, Craddock timed 20:44.2 and finished 33rd overall.
Second to finish for the Illini was junior Allison McGrath, who clocked a new 6K personal-best finish time of 20:55.4 and placed 45th. Sophomore Madison Marasco finished third for Illinois and 55th overall, recording a season-best 6K finish time of 20:59.0. Sophomore Emma Milburn set a new 6K PR with a finish time of 21:02.6 and placed 62nd. Freshman Emma Wilson crossed fifth for Illinois, timing 21:12.5 and finishing 78th overall.
Up next, the Illini begin postseason competition at Big Ten Championships, hosted by Ohio State. Held at The Ohio State University Golf Club, the men's 8K will begin at 9:45 a.m. CT, and the women's 6K will follow at 10:45 a.m. CT.
"Overall, this weekend, between Bradley and Pre-Nationals, served us very well and sets us up well for the championship season," Haveman said.