Senior Emily Blakeslee spoke for the entire Northwestern women’s cross country team when she expressed disappointment about the Wildcats’ poor showing at Saturday’s Roy Griak Invitational, held at the University of Minnesota. Northwestern finished 23rd out of a field of 26 teams.

Blakeslee said that it was hard to know where she was compared to the rest of the competition because it was such a large race.

“I thought during the race I was doing well,” Blakeslee said. “But when I saw the outcome, it was not where I would have like to been. I had no idea I was as far back in the pack as I was.”

Even while acknowledging the strength and caliber of the competition — 13 of the nation’s top 30 teams, including five Big Ten teams, competed at the meet — Coach Amy Tush said that the team could have placed as high as 16th.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Tush said. “23rd is not where we should have been. We potentially have a lot more talent than that.”

She expects that the team will continue to improve and come together as the season progresses.

“This was not an indicator of the rest of the year,” Tush said. “We will be a different team.”

No. 20 Arizona State won the meet, while No. 15 Michigan State took second place — best among all Big Ten teams.

Junior Diana Hossfeld was NU’s top finisher, placing 71st. She completed the six-kilometer course in 22:13. With a time of 22:36, Blakeslee was the Cats’ second finisher, placing 101st overall.

Senior Nicole Kalogeropolous, freshman Casey Shea, and senior Nora Colligan rounded out NU’s top five.

The team hopes to bounce back when they compete locally at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday. All 25 women will race.

The most important improvement the team can make is to have more confidence, Blakeslee said.

“There is no new strategy or new play we can work on,” Blakeslee said. “There are no defense strategies — at least no legal ones.”