All eleven Big Ten women's cross country teams will come face to face on Michigan State territory this weekend at the Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich., for the 2003 Big Ten Cross Country Championship meet.

"I think all of us are excited," junior Casie Simpson said. "We are the underdogs so no one really expects anything from us. We want to have a really good time and try to run close together. If we do that, people will be surprised."

The Illini finished in ninth place at last year's Big Ten Championship meet hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. head coach Karen Harvey believes this year's outcome will be better than last year's results.

"I definitely think we can finish as high as fifth place," Harvey said. "I predict we'll finish between fifth and seventh place."

Harvey is not having her team prepare much differently for this meet compared to past ones, including last year's Big Ten Championship meet.

"We don't have to do anything different," Harvey said. "We're not hoping for magic and not using any strategies going into the race. Everyone is really fit and ready to race. We want to keep it simple and not make anything too complicated."

According to Simpson, the team has agreed to give up candy this week, just in time for Halloween, to create a form of team unity going into this weekend's competition.

"I've been struggling all week," Simpson said.

Nine women will be wearing orange and blue to represent the Illini on Sunday. Juniors Simpson, Jaime Turilli and Lindsey Reu as well as sophomores Ellie Pinzarrone and Tabitha Volling will lead the newcomers in their first Big Ten Championship race of their collegiate careers. Freshmen Cassie Hunt, Pam Wolf, Lisa Phillips and Stephanie Simms will debut their talent in front of the other 10 Big Ten teams at the race.

The team is familiar with the Spartan's course. The Illini has raced on it earlier this season. This is not the case for every team competing this weekend since only four teams have had the opportunity to preview the course.

"We definitely have an advantage," Harvey said. "We can talk about the course. The girls remember that they took a rest between the 3,000 meter and 4,000 meter mark. The girls are able to visualize the course and mentally prepare themselves before the race."

According to Simpson, the 6,000 meter course is not a technical course. And since the team has seen the course, she says that they won't have a problem.

Harvey predicts that Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin will finish ahead of her team. According to Harvey, those teams are head and shoulders above her team and she said that those four teams are pretty talented and filled with seniors.

The Illini have raced against four Big Ten teams previous to this weekend's race. Illinois faced Michigan State, Ohio State and Northwestern when the team traveled to East Lansing for the Spartan Invitational on Sept. 19. The only other Big Ten team Illinois has competed against this season has been Purdue, which they faced in their first meet of the season in West Lafayette, Ind., on Aug. 30.