Redshirt freshman Cary Drake had never competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase before this year. She didn’t need to; before this season, Northwestern’s women’s outdoor track team was a group of cross country runners looking to stay in shape during their offseason.
Now under a fully-fledged program, Drake holds the second-fastest steeplechase time in the Big Ten this season. Her event-winning effort in 10:04.15, a 25-second personal best set at the Badger Challenge on Friday, ranks 25th in the country for the 2026 season.
Drake said a lifetime playing lacrosse gave her an affinity for “task-oriented” exercise as opposed to simply running around a track. So with her coaches looking to fill as many distance events as possible to maximize the team’s postseason chances, she stepped up for steeplechase.
“We had basically the whole team jump over a bunch of hurdles and see who looks athletic or who likes doing this,” Drake said. “I kind of always knew in high school that it would be something that I would really love to get to try.”
Division I outdoor track is split into East and West regions, with the top 48 times in each qualifying for the regional preliminary round. The top 12 finishers in late May’s regional race qualify for the national championships in mid-June, and Drake’s time sits 10th-best among runners in the West region.
Runners in the 3,000-meter steeplechase must clear 28 fixed barriers and seven water jumps, making an event originally designed for horses one of the most unorthodox races in collegiate track. Without a standard track on campus, Drake said she and the rest of the Wildcats train by setting up a barrier on the turf in Ryan Fieldhouse.
Drake added that the team can’t easily replicate the water jumps. In a race, the barrier is followed by a sloped pit of water 12 feet long and more than 19 inches at its deepest. But even though graduate student Anna Hightower attempted her first water jump mere minutes before Friday’s race, she finished third in 10:14.57, good for 24th in the West region this year.
“We do the best we can, and I guess it’s proven to work out pretty well,” Drake said.
In the 5,000-meter race, redshirt sophomore Ava Criniti’s winning time of 15:51.38 was just enough to move inside the qualifying threshold at 46th. Hightower is also in position to qualify at 5,000 meters after setting the 36th-fastest time in the region — 15:46.72 — in April.
Redshirt junior Skye Ellis moved up to 30th in the West region charts for the 1,500-meter run, chipping two seconds off her personal best to finish second in 4:14.55.
In the 10,000-meter run, Criniti ranks 28th, junior Jackie Holman sits 33rd and senior Maddy Whitman is on the outside looking in at 49th. NU’s 10,000-meter squad is ranked ninth in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s poll, and its 5,000-meter squad sits 14th.
With the regular season at a close, the ’Cats now turn to the Big Ten Outdoor Championships from May 15 to 17. Regional qualifiers will be announced May 21.
Drake didn’t expect to make the qualifying list in her first season, she said, but her place at the regionals in Arkansas is now almost assuredly secured.
“It’s something that I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do without all of my teammates and coaches,” she said. “We train in a really big group, so I’m just edging up towards the front as best as I can.”
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