Northwestern gains vital early season experience.
With the Huskie Opener in DeKalb, Illinois and Badger Classic in Madison, Wisconsin set for Northwestern’s opening weekend, the ‘Cats were busy in split squad action to begin their campaign.
In the women’s 5K event hosted by Northern Illinois University at the North 40 Championships Cross Country Course on Friday, Northwestern placed second with a team score of 43, with only Chicagoland rival DePaul finishing ahead of the ‘Cats.
With three runners in the top 10, Northwestern’s depth was impressive, with all six Wildcats finishing in the top 25 in a field of 45. Whitney Currie led the way for Jill Miller’s squad, finishing fourth overall with a time of 18:34.98, just five seconds off a personal best.
However, personal bests were no problem for Northwestern in DeKalb. Junior Serena Frolli set a new personal best at 18:54.17, finishing seventh overall, while junior Mia Mraz’s personal best of 19:07.30 vaulted her to a ninth place finish. Senior Audrey Bannister finished in 12th with a personal best of 19:10.44, while junior Mallory Grubb kept the strong running going with a personal best of 19:47.63, good for 16th place. Sophomore Lydia Sommer rounded out the ‘Cats with a time of 20:36.88, finishing in 24th place in her second collegiate 5K.
Just 100 miles up the road in Madison on the same day, Northwestern finished in third in the Badger Classic, battling Big Ten competition in Illinois and Wisconsin while taking part of the 6K women’s event. At the Zimmer Championship Course, Northwestern gained important experience on the course that the ‘Cats will run on at the Nuttycombe Invitational in late September. The course will also host the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships in late November.
Leading Northwestern’s crew, junior Holly Smith placed seventh with a Northwestern-best 21:16.5. The ‘Cats also had runners finish 13th, 14th and 15th with Chloe Wellings, Maddy Whitman and Ava Critini all finishing in a span of four seconds following Wellings’ 21:40.6 finish.
In 17th place, 2023 USTFCCCA All-Midwest Region honoree Ava Earl closed out Northwestern’s top five with a 21:49.8 time. Skye Ellis’s 21:52.7 and Katherine Hessler’s 21:57.1 gave Northwestern two more top 20 finishers in 19th and 20th place. Fiona Lenth and Jackie Holman rounded out Northwestern’s effort in 22nd and 24th respectively with times of 22:02.9 and 22:18.5.
Next up, Northwestern will travel down to Champaign for the Big Ten Preview slated for Friday. The squad will look to build on a pair of top-three finishes in its season openers as conference competition begins.