Cross Country

It’s the old adage — third time’s the charm. This weekend, though, Aubrey Roberts will look to make it come true as she races for All-American honors.

The junior earned a berth in the NCAA Championships — for the third straight year — after her impressive performance at NCAA Midwest Regionals last weekend. To earn the national honor, she’ll have to crack the top 40.

Though Northwestern’s fall season is over, Roberts is still competing. In her freshman season, she finished in 50th place with a time of 20:31. Then in her sophomore campaign, she slipped to a 63rd place finish but improved her time, finishing in 20:25.

The meet will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, for the first time since 1978. It’ll be Roberts’ third time competing on the Badgers’ 6K loop at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course this season. In September’s Badger Classic, Roberts finished in 21:14 on the course and four weeks later, she improved her time to 20:10 at NCAA Pre-Nationals.

Roberts will face familiar competition this weekend — including Alicia Monson, the Wisconsin junior who bested her for the win at Big Ten Championships last month — along with the three runners who crossed the line before her at Midwest Regionals.

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