No 11. Northwestern finished up a historic season, finishing in 18th place at the NCAA Championship early Saturday morning in Columbia, Missouri. This was the team’s fourth-ever championship appearance and their highest placement since 1985.
NU’s top four runners all broke personal records in the race.
The Wildcats were led by junior Skye Ellis for the first time this season, who finished 84th out of 262 runners in 19:50.9. The Australian smashed her personal record by almost 30 seconds.
Redshirt sophomore Ava Criniti finished shortly after, placing 91st in 19:54.8 and breaking her personal record by just under four seconds. Next to cross the finish line for coach Jill Miller’s team was graduate student Anna Hightower at 101st in 19:57.6. Hightower beat her previous best by 18.4 seconds. Senior Maddy Whitman was next, finishing in 20:08.5, over seven seconds ahead of her previous personal best.
Graduate student Ava Earl, in her fifth year with the program, and graduate student Holly Smith finished side-by-side in 165th and 166th. Junior Jackie Holman was the last Wildcat to finish in a time of 20:25.5. In total, the team scored 469 points. NC State took home the trophy with 114 points.
The season has been full of triumphs for NU. The ’Cats debuted at No. 25 after two dominant performances to kick off their season.
At the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, the team continued to shock, scoring a runner-up finish. After a program-record fifth place at the iconic Nuttycombe Invitational, NU achieved its highest rank in program history at No. 8.
Then, after besting a higher-ranked Iowa State team at the NCAA Midwest Regional and punching its ticket to the championship, all five of NU’s top runners earned All-Region honors.
The 18th-place finish wraps up a record-breaking season for the ’Cats and sets a high bar for the indoor track season.
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