After a record-setting showing at the NCAA Championships in Columbia last month, Northwestern’s runners had only a brief hiatus before the indoor track season began. But the Wildcats weren’t done setting records,
and a history-making squad continued their usual trailblazing at a pair of meets over the weekend.
The first hurdle for Northwestern was the Cougar Alumni Open, hosted at Chicago State on Friday afternoon. In the first event, Mallory Grubb and Allegra Massey both finished in the top five in the mile run. The 800 meter run was painted purple, with Olivia Capala taking a victory by nearly nine seconds and Maddy Powers finishing in fourth place. Capala’s first race as a Wildcat was a rousing success, with her time of 2:18.70 easily outpacing the field. Powers wasn’t too far behind, and her time of 2:32.54 was less than half a second away from a podium spot.
The 3000 meter run was dominated by Bradley, which filled out the top six, but Northwestern took the final two spots in the top eight. Kailey Zagst took seventh with a time of 10:09.90 (coming up 0.07 seconds short of Bradley’s Wiepke Schoeman), and first year Marley McCullough earned eighth in her Wildcat debut with a sparkling time of 10:10.20. Fellow first years Delilah Helenhouse and Jaya Simmons also broke 10:20, finishing in 13th and 14th, respectively.
Northwestern was also represented in Beantown on Saturday afternoon, with the Wildcats taking on several strong opponents at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center served as the host for several more record-breaking Wildcats, most notably Anna Hightower. After setting a personal best in the 6000 meter at the national championship in November, Hightower had some high expectations to live up to entering the indoor season.
Instead, she surpassed them. Hightower sailed through the 3000 meter run en route to a sixth-place finish in a race that included four other Big Ten opponents. Hightower’s time of 9:10.78 wasn’t only a personal best by 20 seconds. It’s also the third fastest time in the 3000 meter event by any Northwestern runner ever. Skye Ellis also finished in the top 30, with her time of 9:30.98 strong enough to finish 29th.
But the 5000 meter run was where the Wildcats really made their hay. Maddy Whitman led the way for Northwestern with another all-time performance. Her time of 16:06.50 was a personal best by a massive margin — over 45 seconds. Much like Hightower, Whitman also entered the Wildcats’ all-time podium, with her time now the third best 5000 meter time in program annals.
The fourth best 5000 meter time in program annals? It’s now held by Ava Criniti. The Massachusetts native had a very happy homecoming, with her time of 16:11.46 shattering her previous personal best by well over 30 seconds. Both Whitman and Criniti also finished in the top 60 of an incredibly strong meet, which saw 40 runners finish in under 16 minutes.
But the history making wasn’t just limited to Northwestern’s top two runners. Ava Earl and Jackie Holman also continued to etch their names into Wildcat history in a blistering race. Earl’s finish of 16:14.29 earned her sixth place in program history, and was good enough for 67th overall. Holman, meanwhile, was tailing right behind Earl the whole way, and her finish of 16:15.21 got her 69th place at the meet. For the Northwestern 5000 meter record book, Earl is now in sixth and Holman is now in seventh all time. Surely those numbers next to each other aren’t some crazy internet trend.
After shattering even more records, the Wildcat runners will finally get an actual break for the first time since August. Northwestern’s next meet will be back in Chicago, for the Phoenix Invitational on January 10. After that, the indoor track season really kicks into gear, with three more meets (including one at Washington and another at Notre Dame) before January comes to a close. Until then, the Wildcats can have a very happy holiday season knowing that they’ve got more program history to make in the new year.
