The Wildcats finished strong in the end to their indoor season.
Northwestern cross country sent four runners to Saturday’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational, finding a solid level of success — particularly in the 5000 meter run — as it closed out its indoor track season. The ‘Cats sent Chloe Wellings and Katherine Hessler to compete in the 5000 meter, along with Holly Smith and Skye Ellis for the 3000 meter.
Wellings and Hessler both set personal bests on Saturday. Wellings recorded a 16:13.47 finish, good for third all-time in Northwestern history. She finished 45th out of 167 finishing runners in all, recording her lowest 200-meter split of the day with a 36.84 second time in the final 200 (1.57 seconds faster than her next-best split).
Hessler finished 70th in the same event, setting the fifth-best Northwestern mark with a 16:30.55 final time. After a slower start, Hessler finished her final 200 in a blazing 34.97 seconds, marking a whopping 7.95-second speed increase in comparison to her first 200 meter split.
Both Wellings and Hessler have now set personal bests in back-to-back 2025 meets. Wellings set personal records in the mile (4:49.76) and 3000 meter (9:22.65) at the UW Preview on Jan. 17-18. Meanwhile, Hessler turned in a 9:34.54 performance in the 3000 meter run at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic on Feb. 8.
In the 3000 meter on Saturday, Smith finished 59th with a final time of 9:19.49. She recorded relatively even 200-meter splits with no time below 36.66 or above 38.24. Notably, Smith also set a new personal-best, barely beating out her previous mark of 9:20.32.
Ellis went to Boston attempting to follow up on a program-record 2:10.23 performance in the 800 meter run. She won both the 800 meter and the mile run at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic, but that success did not fully translate to the longer 3000 meter event. Ellis finished in the middle of the pack at 117th out of 253 finishing runners, faltering slightly near the end of her run with five straight splits above 39.5 seconds.
Overall, NU’s team of four runners turned in solid performances at Saturday’s invitational in Boston. With the indoor season over, the ‘Cats will have time to rest and recuperate before the outdoor season begins in March.