Eighteen points. Six in the top ten. One message: Northwestern’s here to run the Big Ten ragged.
Following a perfect season opener in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Northwestern traveled to East Lansing, Michigan, for a glimpse of the Big Ten competition. It was here that it continued its dominant performance, finishing with a commanding first-place victory in the 6k run.
Graduate student Ava Earl took the lead for the ‘Cats — and the entirety of the Big Ten for that matter — dominating with a 20:14.5 finish
to garner her second individual victory of her collegiate career. With a pace of 5:25, she finished just ahead of her graduate student teammate Anna Hightower, who paced at 5:26 and recorded a time of 20:16.0.
Alongside Earl and Hightower, four other Wildcats finished in the top 10 on Friday morning. Redshirt sophomore Ava Crinti snuck into fourth after a 20:19.9 finish — just a second behind Cincinnati first-year Ann Lemirisho to miss a perfect podium finish for Northwestern.
The remaining three top-ten Wildcats — graduate student Holly Smith (5th place), junior Jackie Holman (6th place) and redshirt junior Skye Ellis (8th place and a personal best time)— collected the remaining points needed to propel Northwestern into an all-around team victory. They recorded finishes of 20:20.6, 20:27.3 and 20:36.7, respectively.
Northwestern dominated with 18 points, well ahead of the competition. The host school, Michigan State, grabbed second place after finishing 71 points behind Northwestern with a total of 89. The gap in points continued to widen, with Grand Valley State finishing third at 119 points, Cincinnati in fourth with 122 points and Michigan rounding out the top five with 139 points.
Also recording standout times for the ‘Cats were senior Maddy Whitman (11th place) and first-year Cary Drake (29th place) with finishes of 20:48.6 and 21:13.4, respectively.
Rounding out the rest of the Northwestern lineup were senior Mia Mraz after a 22:02.7 finish (63rd place), redshirt sophomore Kailey Zagst with a 22:24.8 finish (84th place) and finally redshirt freshman Katherine Kilmek with a 23.50.9 finish (143rd place).
With two impressive victories now under their belt, Northwestern takes time to recover and relax before Friday, October 3, when it journeys a hop and a skip away to Chicago, Illinois, for the Loyola Lakefront Invitational.
