The Northwestern women’s cross country team will run thisweekend in its last two events before the Big Ten and RegionalChampionships.
The team’s top six runners will head to Terre Haute, Ind., tocompete in the Pre-National Invitational. The rest of the team willbe running in Lake Forest, Ill., at the Forester Invite.
Seniors Kyna Forkins, Lesley Meade and Diana Hossfeld, sophomoreMallory O’Niel, and freshmen Alison Coren and Marie Grabinski willcompete in the Pre-National Invitational.
“It’s the biggest race of the season,” Forkins said. “It’s sobig because anybody who’s anybody is running this week. It’s so bigthat they have to divide it into two races. It shows you who thetop girls are, and who are the girls that you want to beat.”
Forkins has been running since the seventh-grade, when shediscovered that she could “beat the boys in the mile race.”
NU went to the National Championship her sophomore year.
“Making it to nationals two years ago is probably the team’sbiggest claim to fame,” Forkins said.
“It was probably the greatest running experience of our lives.We had a great season. We were even nationally ranked.”
Forkins is looking to repeat that accomplishment this year, andsaid she thinks the team has a chance.
“We’re a very old and very young team — basically just seniorsand freshmen,” she said. “The seniors are very confident, and itrubs off on everyone. We ride on each other’s confidence.”
In keeping with this team attitude, each NU runner will tie abright yellow ribbon in her hair to help runners identify eachother.
While the top six run in Indiana, the rest of the team will tryto earn spots in the Big Ten Championship. The top three NU runnersfrom the Forester Invite will get to join the others at the BigTen, with the fourth-place runner also attending as an alternate.Senior Caroline Speirs said she doesn’t think competition for thosespots will be a factor in the race.
“Going to the Big Ten is exciting, and everyone will run as bestthey can,” Speirs said. “But the team spirit overrules individual.There isn’t really any negative competition.”
Everything seems to be gearing up towards the Big Tenchampionship on Oct. 31. Practices are different, and the athletesare getting pumped.
“I think we have a lot of untapped potential,” Speirs said. “Ifour girls can step it up, we have a good shot at a finishing in thetop half.”
Reach Brandon Kreines at [email protected].
