Full Griak Women’s XC Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Kelsey Hildreth of the Northern Illinois University women’s cross country team ran the fastest six-kilometer time in program history and finished seventh overall Saturday afternoon at one of the most prestigious collegiate cross country races in the nation, Minnesota’s 30th annual Roy Griak Invitational on the Les Bolstad Course.

In the third meet of NIU cross country’s schedule this fall, Hildreth (Byron, Ill./Byron) earned a quality top-10 finish and ran right with some of the nation’s best distance runners. Her time of 21:35 was the best 6K effort ever produced by a sophomore Huskie and helped NIU earn a 21st place finish as a team at the meet.

"Kelsey truly solidified herself as a national-caliber athlete today," NIU cross country head coach Adrian Myers said. "She was maybe too conservative at 75th through the first kilometer, but she moved up nicely to finish seventh in a national-class field. She's on a great trajectory to perform very well during the championship season."

Rounding out the NIU team score of 542 that resulted in the team’s 21st place finish at one of the most talented cross country fields anywhere in the country this season were the finishing times of four other Huskies.

Ericka Hibser (Lewiston, Ill./Lewiston) was the second Huskie to cross the line as she came in 102nd in a time of 23:41, just ahead of the 128th place effort of Carly Pederson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) in 24:05. Maura Beattie (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) placed 146th in her first six-kilometer race for the Huskies with a time of 24:32, while Taylor Perkins (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) earned 159th after crossing the line in 24:53 as NIU’s lone Minnesota native at Saturday’s competition up north.

NIU finished ahead of Drake, UMKC and several other schools as Boise State topped the women’s Division I field at the 2015 Griak Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies have one more race before their postseason schedule begins. NIU cross country will head to the NCAA Pre-Nationals in a few weeks for a race on Oct. 17 in Louisville, Ky., as the team concludes its regular season ahead of the Mid-American Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Akron, Ohio.

--NIU--