The Northwestern cross country team isn’t racing against itself, but it seems that every week one runner or another is unhappy when she crosses the finish line.
The Wildcats are still looking for a race where they run as a team and every member is satisfied with her performance.
“We’re just getting hungrier and hungrier for us to have that great race where we all do well,” said senior Emily Blakeslee. “There will be a time when we all come together in the last two races. Those will be the best ones because those are the ones that count the most.”
Blakeslee was Northwestern’s top finisher at Saturday’s Pre-National Invitational in Waterloo, Iowa. Placing 70th overall with a time of 21:53 on the 6-kilometer course, Blakeslee beat junior teammate Diana Hossfeld, who has been the Cats’ top finisher in every other meet this season. Hossfeld completed the course in 21:59, finishing 74th.
Blakeslee said she’s normally closer to Hossfeld in practice than she is in races, so in this race she tried to keep up when Hossfeld tried to break away at the 2-kilometer mark.
“My goal was to not give up when she passes me,” Blakeslee said. “I tried not to tell myself, ‘Oh, I cant stay with her.’ I know Diana, know how fast she is and know it’s not that far out of my reach to stay with her.”
“Emily was focused the whole way,” said coach Amy Tush. “She came up to Diana and challenged her a little bit and made some things happen. Hopefully for Big Tens everyone will race well on the same day.”
NU finished 24th out of 33 teams, competing against 20 of the top 30 teams in the country. The meet was held on the same course that will host the NCAA Championship on Nov. 24.
“We were right where we should have been,” Tush said of the team’s overall finish. “If Diana had been on and if Nora (Colligan) hadn’t been sick, we could have been a little higher. With the effort the girls put forth, we are probably where we should have been.”
While the top seven runners were racing in Waterloo, the next 12 runners were competing at the Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. Junior Kyna Forkins was NU’s top finisher, covering the 5-kilometer course in 19:06 and placing 16th overall. Forkins, who is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, said she hopes her performance won her a spot on the nine-person roster for this weekend’s Big Ten Competition in East Lansing, Mich.
“Amy said that I need to really push myself hard, since my injury is not going to get any worse,” Forkins said. “Kenosha was not my premier performance, but it definitely feels good to be able to run so well and earn a spot for Big Tens, if I was able to.”
“Kyna did an awesome job,” Tush said. “She’s been out the whole season and has been running well at the end of the season. That’s what she has to do.”
Forkins said that because the meet in Kenosha was the last race for most of the girls on the alternate squad, everyone went in with a great attitude. Starting Monday, only the top nine or 10 runners will continue to practice, Forkins said.
“We start with 25 and then it whittles down to nine or 10 girls towards the end of the season,” Forkins said. “It’s a lot easier to focus when there are 10 girls with the same goals, all pushing for Big Tens.”
