The goal of the meet was to win, and that is exactly what the Illini did.

With a final score of 43 points, the Illinois women's cross country team captured first place Saturday when the team hosted the first annual Pack-It-Up Illini Challenge at the Arboretum in Urbana. Ten points separated the Illini from the second place finisher, the RedHawks of Miami (Ohio).

"It was great," freshman Cassie Hunt said. "Winning the meet was important because it was a home meet and to win was our goal."

Hunt led the Illini past the competition, finishing fourth overall, behind three seniors.

Miami of Ohio senior Andrea Kremer stole first place with a time of 17 minutes and 12 seconds. Indiana State captured second place. A runner from Miami of Ohio also took third.

"I went out quick, trying something that head coach Karen Harvey told me to do," Hunt said. "She wanted me to get out with the first pack of girls. I hung out there for the first 3,000 meters of the course. The last part of the course was my weakness."

According to Harvey, her team's overall strength during the race was their last 2,000 meters: where they started looking for jerseys and waking up, knowing that they weren't winning the race.

Illinois had four runners place within the top 10 spots. The first five runners for the team finished within the first sixteen places. Hunt crossed the finish line first for the Illini with a time of 17:57, while junior Jaime Turilli finished closely behind in the sixth spot with a time of 18:03.

Freshman Pam Wolf placed eighth overall and third for the Illini in 18:11. Two seconds later junior Casie Simpson crossed the line with a ninth place finish. Freshman Lisa Phillips rounded up the scorers with a 16th place finishing time of 18:41. All 15 runners competing for the Illini finished within 2:33 of one another.

"We beat our main contender (Miami of Ohio) without having our top five perform their best," Harvey said. "We didn't have our best race. Simms didn't run well, but Phillips and Simpson definitely stepped up."

Four years ago was the last time that the Illini placed first in a meet, and also the last time the team has captured the first place title at home. The Pre-NCAA Regional District V Meet, held in Savoy on Oct. 2, 1999, was the last time this feat occurred.

Illinois finished in front of all three teams on Saturday that they will face again on Nov. 15 at the NCAA Regional Championships Meet in Stillwater, Okla. Southern Illinois trailed 87 points to the Illini's 43 while Northern Illinois finished with 177 points and DePaul with 213 points.

"I feel comfortable and confident that we can beat these teams again in our regional race," Harvey said.

The majority of the 5,000 meter course was flat. The runners only had to race up a couple of hills.

According to Harvey, she has been working on putting this meet together since March, and its overall turnout was a success.

"I had so many people tell me how beautiful the course was," Harvey said. "Parents, runners from other teams, alumni and coaches all told me how wonderful the course was. Dave Williams (head of the University Arboretum) was there and had a smile on his face.

"We want this to be a tradition thing, and soon we'll get better teams and bigger crowds at the meet."

The team enjoyed the home course advantage.

"It was nice to see someone from Illinois at every turn in the race supporting our team," Hunt said.