Scott McClennan was Illinois' top finisher at the Region V Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, taking 14th.

McClennan, a sophomore, ran the 10,000 meters in 33 minutes, 15 seconds.

The team score was better. The place in the standings was not.

For the second year in a row, the University of Illinois women's cross-country team finished sixth in the Big Ten Championships on Saturday at Columbus, Ohio.

What: Big Ten Conference men's and women's cross-country meets.

When: Saturday; women's 5-kilometer race at 9:45 a.m. CST; men's 8-kilometer race at 10:30 a.m. CST.

CHAMPAIGN – If Michelle Byrne had this much trouble trimming her entry list to nine runners for Saturday's Big Ten Conference Championships, imagine the headache she faces in a couple weeks.

When her Illinois women's cross-country team heads to the NCAA District V Championships on Nov. 15, the first-year assistant must delete two more names from her travel squad.

   CHAMPAIGN  Maybe everyone else was surprised. But not Candace Nicholson. Not Michelle Byrne.