Jeff Huth's Illini Insider

One to watch

SOFTBALL ALUMNI GAME

1 p.m. Saturday

At Eichelberger Field

The pros are coming back to their college softball home. So are a bunch of other former Illini who pulled on the Orange and Blue uniform as far back as the birth of the program in 2000.

Illinois' softball past and present will intersect this weekend in what's become an annual event since the first class of players graduated. This time, however, coach Terri Sullivan is adding to the itinerary. In addition to the seven-inning game between her varsity and the alums, there will be a banquet Friday night at the new I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign. On Saturday night, there will be another social gathering to view the televised Illini-Penn State football game.

"We're just trying to make it more of a weekend," Sullivan said.

The UI coach estimated that 25 to 30 alumnae will be on hand. They'll travel from as far away as California (Erin Jones) and Texas (Rachelle Coriddi-Radomski).

"We're thrilled with the number of people coming back," Sullivan said. "We've heard from each of the graduating classes, and we've had quite a bit of response from that first-year team."

Among the expected attendees are three who played last season in the National Pro Fastpitch league: Jenna Hall (Philadelphia), Angelena Mexicano (Akron) and Shanna Diller (Rockford).

Sarah Baumgartner, who patrolled the Illini outfield from 2001 to '04 and now works in Missouri's athletic department, has agreed to give a keynote address during the banquet.

Sullivan was especially eager to make this year's alumni event something special because her current team has so many new faces. Her hope is that the 10 freshmen, in particular, will have their eyes opened to a growing Illini softball heritage.

"It's important to have new players know the history of Illini softball, even though it's not a long history, and to keep everyone connected," Sullivan said.

Illini of the Week

ZACH BARLOW

Golf

The Illini junior suspected he might be in for a special day on the links Sunday when he birdied the first two holes at Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago.

Those were the same holes that had given Barlow such grief during the previous two days of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational. One Day 1, he'd bogeyed each of those holes. The next day, he double-bogeyed the first hole.

"The confidence was just like a domino effect," Barlow said of his Round 3 beginning. "I felt really good about the rest of the round."

With good reason. The former IHSA Class 1A state champion from Campbell Hill Trico ended up matching his career-best round as an Illini – 67 – en route to the first title of his collegiate career. Barlow shared medalist honors with Alex Martin, both finishing the 54-hole event at 1-under-par 209. That figure also was a career best for the Illini veteran.

"Everything was falling into place," Barlow said. "I just got to ride the momentum."

That momentum was shared by the entire Illini team, which entered the last round 1 stroke behind leader Oklahoma State but ended up leaving the rest of the field in its dust. Illinois finished 11 shots ahead of runner-up Indiana for the team crown. No small feat, considering the unranked Illini were matching swings with seven nationally ranked teams, including three in the Top 5.

"We're still kind of feeding off last season," said Barlow, referring to a strong Illini finish last spring that included third places in Big Ten and NCAA regional tournaments and a trip to the NCAA Championships. "We know we can play with top teams because we've done it already. We didn't feel inferior to them."

Barlow played in a group that included 2008 NCAA runner-up Jorge Campillo of Indiana and Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler, winner of the 2008 Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's top freshman. Campillo ended up tied for fifth, while Fowler tied for seventh.

"It was definitely motivation," Barlow said of playing with such high-profile golfers. "One of my goals going into the year was to be an All-American, and to be able to play with All-Americans and beat All-Americans gives me confidence."

Road warriors

That's what coach Janet Rayfield hopes her Illini women's soccer players will be as they embark on another Big Ten season. No. 17 Illinois plays five of its first seven conference matches away from home, starting with trips to Wisconsin on Friday and to Northwestern on Sunday.

"Our performance on the road is really what sets us up to compete for a Big Ten title," Rayfield said. "How we handle ourselves on the road is going to have a lot of importance to how our season ends up."

This Illini team won't lack for road experience entering the league race.

After opening the season at Missouri, Illinois (6-3) spent consecutive weekends this month in Tennessee and Florida, The Illini are 2-3 on the road, with two of those losses to nationally ranked Tennessee and Florida teams.

Rayfield said she set up her preconference schedule with an eye toward her team's road-heavy start in the Big Ten.

"I think we learned from that, and it's going to help us," she said. "After going to Florida, Wisconsin and Northwestern is going to seem like a short jaunt. That was the intention in preparing for this."

The Illini conclude the regular season with three Big Ten home matches.

"If we can be successful with five of seven on the road, we can end our season with three at home," Rayfield said. "That's nice to look forward to."

Zurrer on move

During the first three seasons of her stellar Illini soccer career, Emily Zurrer was a fixture in the defense at middle back. Now, the All-American is playing right back in a reconstituted UI defense that lost two defenders and a goalkeeper to graduation.

The motivation for the Zurrer position switch, Rayfield said, had more to do with offense than defense.

"Emily was moved out wide because we decided that's where she'd be most effective," the UI coach said. "It gives her a different role; gets her involved in the attack."

By all appearances, it's succeeded. Zurrer is tied for second on the team in goals with two – both game-winners. Of her 11 shots, five have been on goal. She's tied for third on the team in those two categories.

This wasn't a sudden position change for Zurrer. She also played outside back for the Canadian Olympic team at the Beijing Games.

The other returning starter among the defenders is middle back Danielle Kot. They're joined by senior middle back Jamie Alvis and junior left back Brittany Garrett. They're joined by a first-year starter in goal, reigning Big Ten Defensive Co-Player of the Week Alexandra Kapicka.

Nine matches into the season, Rayfield is mostly pleased with what she's seen from a defensive unit that entered the year a question mark.

"I think our back line has been very solid since we've gotten things sorted out." she said. "Some of the goals we've given up were in restart situations."

Dazzling debut

Kristin Sutherland arrived at the UI this fall with a bundle of impressive distance-running credentials. Now the freshman from Orland Park has a collegiate title to go with them.

In her Illini cross-country debut Friday, Sutherland placed first in the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships at Normal, winning the 5-kilometer race by 16 seconds. The Big Ten Co-Runner of the Week finished in 17 minutes, 47 seconds – the lone entrant to break 18 minutes.

"To be able to win her first race ever as a collegian says a lot for her," UI coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "She also understands the competition is going to get harder and harder as we go. But she has very high expectations of herself, and to run that well was a great thing to see."

Sutherland was the marquee name in Rasmussen's latest recruiting class. The Carl Sandburg High graduate was the Gatorade Illinois Cross-Country Athlete of the Year for the 2007-08 school year. She was the 2007 IHSA Class 3A state champion in that sport. And, in her only season of high school track and field, she won the 2008 Class 2A state title in the 3,200 meters.

Detecting a pattern?

"She doesn't like to lose," Rasmussen said. "The one quality that she has that a lot of people don't have as high is a desire to win. I know she wants to be the best. That's what drives her.

"That's something you can't coach. That's an intangible thing. We can try to bring it out, but you don't have to do anything with Kristin."

It's a Challenge(r)

The USTA Challenger of Champaign-Urbana is still more than six weeks away, but the road to C-U's annual pro tennis tournament starts this weekend. About 10 of coach Brad Dancer's Illini are scheduled to compete in prequalifying, which runs Friday through Sunday at Atkins Tennis Center. The stakes are high because only the winner from a field of about 24 will move on to the qualifying round Nov. 9-10.

Meanwhile, Illini freshmen Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse are entered in the Virginia Ranked 1-1 Tournament, a three-day event that starts Friday in Charlottesville, Va.

The list

The Illini men’s golf team shot the 10th-lowest 54-hole score (852) in the program’s history last weekend en route to winning the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. The all-time top 10 totals for 54 holes:
SCORE    TOURNAMENT    DATES
836    Nestle Purina Classic    Oct. 7-8, 2002
837    D.A. Weibring Invitational    Oct. 7-8, 2007
840    Northern Intercollegiate    Sept. 18-19, 1998
843    Northern Intercollegiate    Sept. 28-29, 2002
845    Henry Griffitts/Baylor Invitational    Oct. 29-30, 2001
847    Big Ten Championships    May 8-9, 2004
850    Alister MacKenzie Invitational    Oct. 13-14, 2003
851    Marshall Invitational    April 4-5, 2003
851    Badger Invitational    Sept. 6-8, 2002
852    Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invite    Sept. 19-21, 2008

The number

+6
Margin of first-half goals this season for the Illini women’s soccer team, which has outscored nine foes 7-1 before halftime. Illinois has been outscored 7-4 in the second half.

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