The Northwestern women’s cross country team, a squad made up of nearly two-thirds underclassmen, got a glimpse of its bright future during Saturday’s Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational at Montrose Beach in Chicago.
Led by freshman Hilary Forman, the Wildcats claimed 10th place in the 28-team race hosted by Loyola University in Chicago.
Marquette won the Women’s Division I Gold Race with a team score of 54 and was followed by Grand Valley State (73) and Missouri State (170). NU finished with 300.
Forman, normally the team’s fourth or fifth runner, was the first of the Wildcats to cross the finish line. Her time of 18:41 was good for 43rd place. She was followed by sophomore Celia Franklin, who was 57th with a time of 18:52. The performance was a big jump for Franklin, who is usually Northwestern’s seventh or eighth runner.
“Those two performed where they should always be performing,” coach Amy Tush said.
Forman went out quickly, placing herself in the top 20 early and staying there for a large part of the race. Franklin, motivated by her goal of breaking the 19:00 barrier, did her best to stay close.
“I just tried to stick with my teammate Hilary,” Franklin said. “She went out strong and finished strong.”
NU’s top five runners Saturday were all underclassmen, a fact that shows the team’s lack of experience as well as its potential for growth.
“It’s a rebuilding year,” Tush said. “We’re young but we have high expectations for certain people.”
Another young NU runner, freshman Alison King, followed Franklin, finishing 63rd in 18:56. Shortly after King crossed the finish line, a pack of three Wildcats came through in a span of two seconds. Sophomore Marie Grabinski, freshman Megan Young, and junior Mallory O’Neil finished 81st, 83rd and 84th. Carly Brown, the fourth freshman among Northwestern’s top seven finishers, was 99th in 19:27. Tush expected the team to finish in the top 10 and was pleased with the team’s ability to stick together.
“We work a lot in practice on running together. We run together every day so there’s no reason why we can’t run together in races,” she said.
Overall, the Cats felt there was plenty of room for improvement in their performance. In the coming races, they will try to improve on Saturday’s effort, which Tush said was average.
With the Pre-National Invitational coming up in two weeks in Terre Haute, Ind., the Cats are now approaching a key point in the season.
“We’ve been training hard and putting in a lot of miles,” Franklin added. “It’s been physically hard as well as mentally hard. But when we start to taper, our times will hopefully drop. I’m excited for the last few meets.”
Reach Andrew Simon at [email protected].
