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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Jeremy Rasmussen had a tough time picking out the highlight of the day for his Illinois women's cross-country team at the NCAA Championships.

Certainly, the second-year Illini coach had plenty to choose from on Monday:

– Tenth-place Illinois finished in the top 10 for the fourth year in a row, a feat matched only by defending champion Stanford, which placed fourth this year.

– The Illini produced two All-Americans – Angela Bizzarri and Katie Engel – the first time that's happened in the same year in the program's history.

– Bizzarri ran the fastest 6-kilometer time ever by an Illini while tying the highest NCAA individual finish in school history.

– No. 14 Illinois was the highest Big Ten finisher even though four other conference teams entered with higher rankings.

"Definitely, that's one of the most exciting things about our day," Rasmussen said.

Led by three-time All-American Bizzarri and first-timer Katie Engel, the Illini scored 318 points. That was a 13-point improvement from 2007, when Rasmussen's team placed sixth.

"Last year, it wasn't nearly as difficult to be in the top 10 as it was this year," he said.

Bizzarri continued her career climb in this meet. After placing 24th as a freshman and 14th last year, the Illini junior finished sixth while breaking her own school-record time. Bizzarri completed the 6-kilometer race in 19 minutes, 59.1 seconds – eclipsing the 19:59.8 she ran in the 2007 Big Ten Championships. In the process, Bizzarri matched ex-Illini Marianne Dickerson's sixth-place NCAA performance in 1981.

"It looked easy," Rasmussen said of Bizzarri's historic run. "She was up in that chase pack ... and at the end, when she needed to get up and moving, she got up and moving."

Engel finished 22nd in 20:30.1, joining Bizzarri as an All-American for yet another Illini first.

"That's something we're very proud we were able to do," Rasmussen said.

The UI coach felt the same way about being the highest Big Ten team in the standings. Illinois finished ahead of No. 6 Minnesota and No. 13 Michigan State – which tied for 11th – as well as No. 8 Michigan (16th) and No. 10 Wisconsin (21st).

"Our training sets us up so we're peaking for this meet," Rasmussen said, "and to be able to be the best Big ten team at the end of the season says a lot for our women and our program."