Engel breezes to best, leads Illinois to fourth

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Junior All-American Angela Bizzarri is a known commodity, but the No. 17 Illinois women's cross-country team is getting valuable contributions from other runners.

UI senior Katie Engel finished third overall Saturday at the Pre-Nationals meet, clocking 20 minutes, 23 seconds in the 6-kilometer race. It was a personal best and the third-fastest 6K time in school history.

"Katie had an outstanding race," Illini coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "She is starting to figure out just how good she can be. Now it is just a matter of continuing to take some risks and continuing to push herself to that next level."

Illinois tied Georgetown for fourth place, scoring 186 points in a 39-squad field.

Bizzarri, in her first race of the season, finished second for the Illini in 20:47. Freshman Kristin Sutherland was 29th in 21:04. Sophomore Chantelle Groenewoud (64th) and junior Elizabeth Boyle (77th) finished in 21:33 and 21:41, respectively.

"They ran well today," Rasmussen said. "Everyone really stuck to the race plan that we had created and did an excellent job of executing it. Placing fourth overall was a good showing of where we are at, and we know can continue to get better from here."

Florida State and Princeton tied for first with 89 points. Michigan placed third with 168 points.

Florida State's Susan Kuijken won individual honors, clocking 19:49.

In men's cross-country:

Stevens sets pace. Junior Jeremy Stevens placed 99th in 24:54.3, leading Illinois to 28th at the Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute.

UI freshman Colin Mickow was 135th in 25:11.6.

"We did some good things today," Illini coach Wen- del McRaven said. "Our guys know we still have a lot of work to do to reach that next level."

The race, which featured 40 teams, should help Illinois prepare for upcoming meets, McRaven said.

"The young guys will really benefit from this experience," McRaven said. "Big Tens and NCAA regionals are just around the corner, and they now know what to expect from elite competition."

Stanford, ranked sec- ond nationally, won the team title.

In women's golf:

Sloan paces squad. UI freshman Samantha Sloan (159) was tied for 47th at the Lady Northern golf tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Illini (638) were tied for 12th place with Minnesota. No. 22 Purdue (593) led the 14-team field by 9 strokes. No. 23 Notre Dame (602) was second, and No. 20 Michigan State (604) was third.

UI freshmen Hailey Koschmann and Nora Lucas and sophomore Raquel Hopton were tied for 50th at 160.

Purdue's Junthima Gulyanamitta (143) finished her day at 1 under par and led head- ing into today's final round at the Kampen Course.

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