Northwestern closed its postseason slate with a third-place finish in Friday’s Midwest regionals meet in Stillwater, Oklahoma. 

Junior Ava Earl led the Wildcats from the front, earning an eighth-place finish that grants her an automatic bid to nationals. With Earl’s bid, the Wildcats will now have at least one runner in the NCAA Championships for the third season in a row. 

Setting out a blinding time of 20:42.3, Earl picked up her fastest 6k time since the Bradley Pink Classic last October — a mere four seconds off her personal best. 

Following closely behind Earl, senior Kalea Bartolotto and junior Katherine Hessler finished in the top 15, earning All-Region honors. Bartolotto placed ninth with a time of 20:43.4, while Hessler crossed the finish line in 13th place with 20:47.6.

Earl and Bartolotto both received their second All-Midwest awards, while Hessler received the distinction for the first time in her career. 

Freshman Anna Delgado, junior Fiona Lenth, sophomore Maddy Whitman and graduate student Adele Magaud rounded out the rest of NU’s top seven. Overall, the ‘Cats finished in third with 155 points, 80 points away from a second consecutive automatic team bid to nationals. 

With the team’s fall slate concluded, Earl will now shift her focus to compete in the NCAA championships, which will take place Saturday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @betsy_lecy

Related Stories:

– Cross Country: Northwestern begins postseason slate, places sixth at Big Ten Championships

– Cross Country: Northwestern prepares to compete at Big Ten Championships

– Cross Country: Northwestern completes regular season at Bradley Pink Classic