The NCAA clearinghouse decided to give the Illinois men's cross country team a pick-up just when the team started to drag.

Freshman Trent Hoerr received clearance on Friday to compete in Saturday's 67th annual Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree and finished behind only one Illinois runner, sophomore Jason Bill.

"I knew that he was talented and I knew that he was training hard," Illinois head coach Paul Pilkington said. "It wasn't a complete surprise, but it was nice to see that he came through."

Bill and Hoerr helped the Illini to finish in sixth place as a team in the 25-team field. Illinois finished just three points behind fifth place Division II Abilene Christian.

"I'd definitely heard about them (Abilene Christian)," Bill said. "Their top three runners were all Kenyans or foreigners. I knew they were a good team. I wasn't too surprised."

Abilene Christian finished second at the NCAA Division II National Championships for three consecutive years from 2000-2002.

Illinois won't compete against Abilene Christian again this year, but the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the field, Kansas and Oklahoma State, will be among the teams joining Illinois in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 15.

"I think our region is better than I thought it was going to be," Pilkington said. "Oklahoma State has picked up several foreigners and so has Kansas. I think Kansas and Oklahoma State are the top teams in the regional. It's because of the foreign distance runners they've picked up.

"I think our region is tougher than it was a year ago because of their new additions."

The Illini experienced a tough week of training affecting Saturday's performance, but Pilkington expects the team to have a strong showing when the end of the season arrives.

"We ran hard this week in practice," Pilkington said. "We didn't back off for this meet. They trained hard and they were all a little bit tired.

"Jason can go faster and so can the rest of them when we back them off. When we need them at the end (of the season) they'll be ready."

Bill ran a personal best time for 8,000 meters completing Saturday's race in 24 minutes, 37 seconds, a time 11 seconds better than his previous best.

Bill's 12th place finish made him one of only four Americans in the top 15 finishers in a race packed strongly with talented Kenyans and other foreign runners.

"I'm pretty pleased with my race," Bill said. "There were a lot of good kids up front. It's one of those races that you need. You try to hang with the leaders and that's what I did. I'm pretty happy with it."

Bill's performance on Saturday showed what the Illini should expect from their sophomore standout when the team returns to Stillwater, Okla., for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

If Illinois is to advance out of the regional to the NCAA National Championships, it will take improved performances from the remainder of the team.

"I think we can get out of the regional," Hoerr said. "Some guys need to step up. We all just need to run our best races of the year there to get out."

Illinois finishers: 12. Jason Bill, 24:37; 34. Trent Hoerr, 25:19; 38. Kris Cunningham, 25:25; 47. Eric Tietz, 25:35; 58. Brent Pfeiffer, 25:53; 64. Jon Houseworth, 26:04; 74. Adam Palumbo, 26:35; 106. Rich Calvario, 26:35; 122. Ed Murray, 26:45.