Since its inaugural season three years ago, the Northwestern cross country team has matured with every campaign.
According to coach April Ecke, the Wildcats have now all but completed the best season in the program’s brief history culminating in sophomore Rachel Evjen becoming NU’s first-ever representative at the NCAA championships.
“Each year we’re growing and maturing,” Ecke said. “It took Rachel time to get adjusted. I’m ecstatic that (she) is going to nationals. I’m very proud of her being the first individual to represent us.”
This season, Evjen proved her worth by leading NU in all eight of its races. She received All-Big Ten honors for the first time and received All-District recognition for the second year in a row.
“It’s an honor,” she said. “I never expected coming in last year being where we are.
“We definitely made an impact on the region. We’re going to be a team that people are going to have to look out for.”
Even though Evjen is the only Cats runner heading for Ames, Iowa, on Monday, Ecke is still pleased with her team’s season.
“Who would’ve ever believed that in three years we would be disappointed about just missing the national meet?” Ecke said.
The next four runners in NU’s top five were at times as tough to piece together as a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. Ecke constantly repeated the need for consistency among her top five, and eventually the pieces began falling into place.
Junior Laura Evans stepped up to answer Ecke’s call for consistency. At the Roy Griak Invitational, NU’s third meet, she finished second on the team. Since then she was NU’s No. 2 runner in four of the Cats five remaining races.
“There was a certain point in time when I said, ‘I’ve been staying with (our top runners) in practice,'” Evans said. “It changed my outlook to run with them more.”
Evans shined in the Cats’ postseason races, where she dramatically improved from last year.
After placing 70th at the 1999 Big Ten championships, Evans made the All-Big Ten team in 2000 with a 14th-place finish. More impressive, she placed 19th at the Midwest Regional championships a meet in which she did not even participate in 1999 to earn All-District honors.
“This year I have been able to do really well,” she said. “I think maybe I’ve gained more confidence because I’m one of the older people on the team.”
NU’s top freshmen, Emily Blakeslee and Nora Colligan, helped build a consistent top five as well.
Blakeslee scored in each of NU’s races this year. Colligan came up big late in the season as well. Sophomores Karen Rogers and Nicole Kuznia were also frequently in NU’s scoring column.
After placing fifth at Big Tens and fourth at regionals, NU looks to improve next year.
Six of the seven runners that NU sent to regionals will be returning. Though the loss of senior Shannon McGowan will be tough for the Cats, Ecke believes that the confidence this team has built will be instrumental to its success next year.
“Each year just opens the door,” she said. “You use the past year as experience and it helps you for next year. Every year we’re just looking toward moving to that goal to be a nationally ranked team.”
Ecke helped her team gain confidence by taking them to more competitive meets than in previous years and helping them believe they could compete with the top teams in the nation.
One of these competitive meets, the Notre Dame Invitational, was a turning point, according to co-captain Maria Badaracco. NU went into the meet hoping just to crack the top 10 and ended up tying for fifth with North Carolina State, the nation’s 12th-ranked team.
For McGowan, seeing the Cats exceed expectations was nothing new.
“I’m fortunate enough to have been with the program from the start and see it grow,” McGowan said. “It’s amazing to see talent, hard work and determination build a respectable reputation.”
With that growing reputation, Ecke will be looking to a build a strong recruiting class. She has already received a commitment from Melissa Conway, one of New Jersey’s top high school runners.
If all the pieces fall into place, NU will be that much closer to sending more than just its top runner to the 2001 NCAA championships.
“I think with our experience this year in knowing that we can have a chance against the top teams and that we almost made it (to nationals), we know every weekend that we really need to compete well,” Evans said. “With all that knowledge we should be able to go somewhere.”