Northwestern put the crowds at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and Blue Demon Alumni Classic on notice with multiple record-breaking performances.
On Friday, redshirt freshman Cary Drake took home first place in the one-mile race, with a personal best time of 4:46:99 that elevated her into the sixth-best time in Wildcat history. Alongside Drake, freshman Allegra Massey recorded a personal best, finishing fourth, while senior Mallory Grubb followed to round out the top five.
In the 800-meter, it was another young NU racer who turned heads with her speedy pace. Freshman Olivia Capala placed second with a time of 2:09.00 to achieve the second-fastest race in ’Cats history.
On Saturday, other NU racers headed to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, where personal bests were seemingly easy to come by.
Redshirt sophomore Ava Criniti obliterated her previous personal best time by 17 seconds as she ran a 15:54.42 in the 5,000m. Her pace earned her the second-best time in school history as she placed 15th.
Following Criniti’s lead, senior Mia Mraz also raced a personal best time of 16:32:19.
In NU’s 3000m group, three women placed in the top 20 racers, all with personal best times. Graduate student Anna Hightower ran a 9:09.13 that saw her finish 9th. Hightower’s time is the third-best in ’Cats’ indoor history.
Less than a second behind Hightower, redshirt junior Skye Ellis ran a 9:09.71 and placed 12th. Junior Jackie Holman followed shortly after Ellis with a significantly improved personal best that moved her into sixth all-time in NU history.
After a successful weekend, the ’Cats will partake in their last indoor regular-season meet at the Margaret Bradley Invitational in Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 21.
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