The Big Ten's elite cross country runners fell to Illinois sophomore Jason Bill, and so did some of the NCAA's best on Friday at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.

Bill finished fourth in the field of 154 runners that featured several runners with past success. Despite Bill's success, the Illini team finished 14th in the 22-team field.

"Jason put his name out there as one of the best runners in the country and in the Big Ten," Illinois senior Adam Palumbo said. "We were just all amazed and happy for him."

Among Bill's victims were Michigan's Nate Brannen and Nick Willis, Central Michigan's Tristen Perlberg and North Carolina State's Devin Swann.

Brannen finished third in the Big Ten and 22nd at the NCAA's during 2002 while Willis took seventh at the conference meet and 28th at the national championships. Perlberg finished No. 35 and Swann No. 50 at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships.

"He had a fantastic race," Illinois head coach Paul Pilkington said. "It was a lot of fun to just watch it develop and watch him execute his race plan."

Bill's eight-kilometer time of 25 minutes, 52.9 seconds led the Illini to a disappointing team finish.

"We've got to get better," Pilkington said. "The next group didn't get out like they were supposed to. We've got to do a better job of getting out early. They got caught in the back and the course narrowed down. We talked about that up front and we have some improving to do there."

All of the runners from Michigan and Ohio State finished behind Bill, but Palumbo, Illinois' second runner, beat only one Big Ten foe. The other five Illinois runners were beat by every Wolverine and Buckeye runner in the race.

"Michigan and Ohio State aren't reachable this year," Pilkington said. "Realistically, no, they're both potentially top 10 teams in the NCAA. That doesn't mean we can't run an awful lot better, but you have to be realistic with what you can do also."

Michigan entered Friday's race ranked No. 6 by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association and finished fourth. Ohio State finished third as a team on Friday despite receiving a ranking of No. 20 from the USCCCA.

Illinois will not face Michigan or Ohio State until the Big Ten Cross Country Meet on Nov. 2 at Michigan State. The Illini will have little time to dwell on Friday's race with another meet less than a week away.

On Saturday, the Illini will travel to Stillwater, Okla., to run in the Cowboy Jamboree hosted by Oklahoma State, where they will get a preview of the NCAA Regional Race, which will take place on Nov. 15.

"We're just going to get back in gear and train hard for the next meet and make a breakthrough performance," Palumbo said. "The season's still young now and the best is yet to come for us. All of us and coach are excited to see what we can do in the next upcoming meets."

Illinois finishers: 4. Jason Bill, 25:52.9; 80. Adam Palumbo, 27:32.0; 88. Brent Pfeiffer, 27:42.2; 92. Kris Cunningham, 27:47.6; 108. Rich Calvario, 28:07.4; 120. Jon Houseworth, 28:24.2; 147. Eric Tietz, 29:49.9.