The junior continues to put herself in high places in the program record books.
Northwestern cross country has been burning rubber — literally. The Wildcats’ indoor track season has seen individual records, program-high marks being threatened and of course, individual victories. Last weekend, Northwestern dominated at the Midwest Classic, with Holly Smith winning the 5000 meter run and Skye Ellis winning the 3000 meter run. Smith also took third in the mile run, and Katherine Hessler took third in the 5000 meter.
With all that individual success, the Wildcats had a high bar to clear at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic. The Chicago event, hosted by DePaul, also hosted a lot of Northwestern’s regional rivals — Wisconsin, Marquette and Loyola Chicago chief among them. Once again, the Wildcats had their eyes on packing the podium. And once again, they did.
Ellis, the awe-inspiring Australian, got the party started in the mile run. The junior sat at second midway through the race, putting forth a time of 2:22.04 through the first 800 meters. But for the final 400 meters, Ellis found a new gear. She finished the final lap of the race in just under 58 seconds, including a split of 33.72 seconds over the final 100 meters. The ferocious finish helped Ellis hold off a hard-charging Olivia Borowiak to take the title in the mile. And her time of 4:40.80 wasn’t just the best time of any runner that day — it was almost the best time of any Northwestern runner EVER. Ellis was just four one-hundredths of a second away from setting a new Wildcat record, and given the junior’s penchant for improvement, that record is likely to fall soon.
Of course, every runner needs someone to push them, and Ellis had a pair of teammates to do just that. Ava Earl and Maddy Whitman both finished in the top 50 at the Big Ten championships last November, with Earl taking home All-Big Ten honors as well. Neither of them were wearing purple over the weekend (both Earl and Whitman were running unattached), but their performances should make every Northwestern fan proud.
Earl actually led the way for a good chunk of the race, and was about two-tenths of a second ahead of Ellis through 1000 meters. But the back half of the third lap wasn’t kind to Earl, and a 36.2-second 200 meter split (her slowest of the meet) sent her back to third. While Earl wasn’t able to threaten Ellis or Borowiak again, she was still able to coast home with a third-place finish and a sparkling time of 4:45.35. Whitman, for her part, bounced around the top eight for most of the race, battling with a pair of Wisconsin runners. The Badgers’ Maggie Munson got past Whitman on the last lap, but Whitman was still able to take seventh with a great run of 4:53.43.
The mile run seemed to be a very satisfying start to the meet, but not for Ellis. After coming agonizingly close to a program record earlier in the afternoon, the junior was determined to get her name to the top of the Wildcat record books. Her next chance was the 800 meter run, but things weren’t looking peachy through 400 meters. Ellis’ time of 1:04.88 was nothing to sneeze at, but she was nearly three-quarters of a second behind DePaul’s Sonja Nagle for the race lead. Even with a solid 200 meters, Ellis was still sitting at fourth with just half a lap to go.
And then, the junior kicked into gear. She ripped off a ballistic time of 31.96 (the only runner to put up a sub-32 time in the final 200 meters) and ripped past three runners to take the individual crown.
By the time the smoke faded from her sneakers, Ellis had run 800 meters in 2:10.23. The time shattered her previous personal best by four seconds, a remarkable feat considering second place (UIC’s Alessia Sarussi) was just .26 seconds behind Ellis. Ellis beat not only every runner on DePaul’s campus that afternoon, but every Northwestern runner ever. Skye Ellis now holds the best 800 meter time any Wildcat has ever run.
With the rest of the team perhaps inspired by Ellis’ record-setting sequence, Northwestern saw several personal bests get snapped like dry spaghetti in the 3000 meter run. Jackie Holman was running unattached, and she appeared unattached to gravity or drag for most of the run. The sophomore out of San Francisco beat her previous personal best by a mind-boggling 26 seconds, and her time of 9:25.05 earned her a well-deserved runner-up finish.
Katherine Hessler was wearing the purple block N, and she also ran her previous self out of the building. Hessler’s time of 9:34.54 was good enough to surpass her previous personal best (which she had set three weeks prior), and also good for sixth at the meet. And on a day where Ellis etched herself into program lore, Hessler did the same. That time of 9:34.54 is the seventh best 3000 meter time any Wildcat (who is running for the Wildcats) has ever ran.
Cary Drake and Kailey Zagst also found a lot of success in the 3000 meter. Drake was the third Wildcat-affiliated runner (like Holman, she competed unattached) to finish in the event’s top 10. Drake ran a 9:38.15, less than four seconds behind Hessler, a time that earned Drake an eighth-place finish. Zagst continued the trend of setting personal bests — her time of 9:59.83 was nearly 20 seconds faster than her previous low time in the 3000 meter.
Unfortunately, there’s only one more opportunity to set some records, whether they’re personal or program. The indoor track season is coming to a close this weekend, but it’ll at least be a festive ending. The Wildcats close their season at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts on Valentine’s Day, this Friday. They’ve given Northwestern fans a lot to love over this past month, and on Friday, they’ll have one more chance to do it again.