SAVOY – Well-traveled Ryan Eason looks to be on the move with his cross-country career as well.

The Illinois junior, who never before had finished higher than fourth on his team, trailed just one teammate Saturday while placing fifth overall in the Illinois Invitational. Eason ran his fastest 8-kilometer race as an Illini (25 minutes, 11.07 seconds), lopping a whopping 48 seconds off his previous best.

"He's always been strong in practice," teammate and third-place finisher Scott McClennan said. "He's a good team leader, as well, and today he really stepped up."

Eason wasn't alone. Of the top 13 finishers on the UI Blue Golf Course, eight were Illini. Of the seven nonfreshman, five ran career collegiate bests: Eason, Jon Russell, Caleb Grinter, Dan Horyn and Justin Mitchell.

Senior McClennan (24:47.65) barely missed becoming the sixth, falling short of his personal record by two seconds.

Little wonder Illinois handily won the four-team meet, finishing with 27 points to runner-up Missouri-Kansas City's 54.

"That was probably one of the better total team efforts in several years," Illini coach Gary Wieneke said after his team's season opener. "We got a good team spread. We had guys execute the race plan. We had people adjust – maybe they didn't feel real good today, but they still ran a solid race.

"A lot of adjustments were made that are positives to build on."

Eason built a solid base this summer while running the countrysides of Europe.

A business major who is minoring in Spanish, Eason was based in Granada, Spain, while taking part in a six-week study program.

"I think the biggest (training) benefit was that it motivated me to run more, being in new scenery and new areas," the Manchester, Mo., native said. "And having more motivation to run more miles in a time when you're not really competing is vital."

With his weekends free, Eason toured the area. After the program ended, he extended his stay another three weeks and traveled extensively through Europe. He even challenged the Alps with his legs and lungs.

"Thin air," Eason said of the experience. "I was in halfway decent shape going in there, but it just really kicked my butt. Running in that altitude was tough."

Back on the flatlands of East Central Illinois, Eason appears poised for a breakthrough year in cross-country. Before Saturday, he never finished higher than 14th in a collegiate meet.

Recruited out of the St. Louis area primarily as a miler, the Parkway South High grad slowly but surely has taken to distance running.

"I've sort of transformed myself into a guy who can run (the) 8K and 10K," Eason said.

"I came in expecting to run the mile, so the transition into cross-country was a little slower for me than for some long-distance guys."

Illini women stumble

Michelle Byrne didn't expect her Illini to beat a powerhouse Wisconsin team. But neither did she expect to finish last in the Illinois Invitational.

"The team result, I'm disappointed," the Illini coach said. "You host a meet at home, you hope that you can fare better than being fifth of five teams."

That was Illinois' fate after placing one individual among the top 20. Senior Tara Mendozza finished eighth in the 5-kilometer race in 17:44.15.

Most of the other UI veterans, figuratively were missing in action. Three of Illinois' next four finishers were freshmen: Cecelia Williams (21st overall), Amber Hunt (23rd) and Lyndsey Dunnavan (33rd).

"Amber had a great race today, very much improved from what it was a week ago," Byrne said after the Naperville native cut 24 seconds off her opening-meet time. "Celi struggled a little bit the latter part today, but that's part of the collegiate adjustment: having to race week in and week out."

Wisconsin, fifth in the 1998 NCAA meet, swept the first five places to post a perfect team score of 15. Sophomore Erica Palmer finished first in 17:02.48.