The Northwestern women’s cross country team had to overcome several barriers to place seventh out of 24 teams at Saturday’s Midwest Regional Championship in Stillwater, Okla.–actual barriers, as in steps on the course that the runners had to jump over at the 2, 4 and 5-kilometer marks.

“At first I thought, ‘What are they thinking? How they can have steps in the middle of a cross country course?'” junior Diana Hossfeld said. “But it took your mind off the pain, made the race go by faster and gave you different things to think about.”

Hossfeld earned Academic All-American honors for her 14th-place finish, completing the 6-kilometer course in 21:48. To qualify for this distinction, runners must finish in the top 10 percent of the region in regional race and have a high GPA.

“It was something I really wanted to get,” Hossfeld said. “I just missed it last year by three or four places, so it definitely was a goal for this year.”

Finishing only 30 seconds behind the winner, Hossfeld said it was motivating to be so close to the front of the pack.

“It was neat when I realized I was up in the front part of the race,” Hossfeld said. “I could see everyone who was ahead of me and could see exactly where I was in the race. I wanted to stay up and try to move up further.”

This was the last meet of the season for the Wildcats, since they didn’t qualify for the Nov. 24 NCAA Championships. NU needed a second place finish to qualify.

Hossfeld said though she would have liked another chance to race, she is also relieved the intense season is over.

“I wish I had one more race to see how I could do,” Hossfeld said. “Normally at the end of the season, I feel torn down, but now I feel almost like I don’t need a break. It’s a relief to not have to get up at six in the morning.”

Nebraska won the team title and Missouri finished second. By placing first and second, both automatically won spots to compete at NCAAs.

“That’s probably where we should have been in the whole scheme of things,” coach Amy Tush said about the Wildcats’ finish relative to the competition. “We haven’t beat the other teams all year.”

Senior Nicole Kalogeropoulos was NU’s second finisher and senior Nora Colligan, sophomore Kalysta Harmon finished close behind.