At this time last year, Rachel Evjen was just a newcomer to Northwestern. She had barely finished New Student Week. She had not taken any midterms. She had yet to establish herself as a “big name” on the cross country team. And she had yet to be pain-free in her brief stint as a Wildcat.
What a difference a year makes.
Evjen has trudged through numerous finals, she’s been named All-District, she’s the top runner on the team, and, best of all, she’s healthy.
“I’m in a lot better shape now,” she said.
After suffering an injury the summer before her freshman year at NU, Evjen was unable to enter the season in tip-top shape. This year, however, Evjen is coming off an injury-free summer and is much further along than she was at this point last year.
Already placing first and second in NU’s two opening meets thus far, Evjen will be faced with a new challenge as the Cats travel to St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday for the Roy Griak Invitational. For the first time on the collegiate level the women will be running six kilometers instead of five.
“I’m excited about it,” Evjen said of the 6K race. “It’s going to be interesting.”
She also feels mentally prepared for the race and will have no added anxiety as she runs.
The invitational, the third largest meet in the country, will feature 24 of the top teams from around the nation, including six Big Ten schools: Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
In preparation for the 6K race, Evjen said that the team has been running longer intervals and running even harder during their already difficult workouts. And despite the class of elite runners that will be at Saturday’s race, Evjen said she doesn’t feel any pressure or intimidation because of the confidence she has in her teammates.
“It’s exciting, but it’s nothing different,” she said of being the top runner on the team. “Anyone can be the top runner. I’m excited if someone else (from my team) does well.”
Evjen finds watching and racing some of the nation’s top runners exciting as well.
In fact, she is no stranger to running with the nation’s best. After starting her career in seventh grade, Evjen was a participant in the high school division of the Roy Griak Invitational. She now uses the exhilaration of competition to take her mind off her schoolwork.
“It’s so beneficial,” she said. “It keeps you in shape, and I like the competition.”
Now, a year after Evjen began her trek toward being NU’s top runner, she understands fully how to be the well-balanced student-athlete. She knows how to weigh her studying with her running. She knows how to take advantage of every minute she can squeak out between practices, meets, and cumbersome hours in the classroom. And, most noticeably, she knows how to hang with the NCAA’s best.
“Coming into college I was definitely intimidated about running at this level,” she says. “But I have a year of experience now, so it makes a big difference.”
