Northwestern won all three of its events at the Chicagoland Championships on Friday.
Redshirt junior Skye Ellis’ 4:17.24 time in the 1,500-meter run and redshirt freshman Cary Drake’s time of 10:29.96 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase set program records in the Wildcats’ third outdoor track meet as a fully fledged program since getting cut in 1987. Redshirt sophomore Kailey Zagst also took home the 5,000-meter event title in 16:59.83, rounding out the sweep.
The field in Elmhurst featured fellow Chicago area Division I foes DePaul, Loyola Chicago and UIC as well as a host of smaller programs from Illinois and the surrounding states.
NU’s dominance was most apparent in the 1,500-meter race, as graduate student Anna Hightower finished second behind Ellis in 4:23.19, and junior Jackie Holman crossed the line just under two seconds later, securing fourth place. In the 5,000-meter race, Zagst finished almost 15 seconds ahead of the pack, with freshman Marley McCullough placing third in 17:16.20.
Friday was just the second time the ’Cats had ever officially competed in the women’s 3,000-meter outdoor steeplechase. The event was added to the NCAA women’s outdoor track slate in 2001. Drake’s time ranks 47th in Division I this season, and second-place senior Mallory Grubb’s time of 10:43.74 ranks 78th.
The weekend followed NU’s outdoor season opener at the WashU Distance Carnival, in which freshman Olivia Capala set an outdoor 800-meter program record in 2:11.69. The ’Cats also competed at the Raleigh Relays, where a group posted the first, second and fifth-fastest 10,000-meter times in program history.
NU will compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Arizona on Thursday and Friday.
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