DeKALB, Ill. – Post-season running begins this weekend for the Northern Illinois University cross country team when they travel to Kent, Ohio for the Mid-American Conference Championships. The race begins at 11 a.m.
"This is what we've trained for all summer and fall, to give this conference the best we have this weekend," said NIU head coach Adrian Myers. "Our mantra through the fall was to 'keep mining,' meaning keep working with a relentless effort. If we could do that, come October we would 'cut diamonds.' Without that work, we could never uncover this team's potential. They've worked harder than any team I've been around and that's made my job a lot of fun."
The Huskies are setting out achieve a better result than last year's school-best finish of seventh place. Last year's finish was quite the success for the Huskies after finishing better than ninth just once since rejoining the MAC in 1997.
NIU's top competition will come from last year's champions Eastern Michigan. The Eagles are the only MAC school that are nationally ranked coming in at 14th.
"This team has averaged 11th place over the last 20 years in this league," said Myers. "We currently have the opportunity to do something very special, and this group knows it. I give credit to Eastern Michigan who has showcased a tremendous group of national class athletes this fall."
The nine runners for the Huskies this weekend are Hope Schmelzle (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South), Kelsey Hildreth (Byron,Ill.), Ericka Hipser (Lewistown, Ill/Lewistown), Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills, Ill.), Ali Olson (New Auburn, Wis./Bloomer), Carly Pederson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), Lorena Martin (Salamanca, Spain/IFS Fray Luis de Leon), Maura Beattie (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock), Michaela Heit (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran).
"With Kelsey (Hildreth) back in the mix and Hope (Schmelzle) being a consistent leading runner for us, I expect to see a very tough battle upfront with Eastern Michigan," said Myers. "Ultimately, this won't decide our team fate as much as 3-5 for us. That is where the championship will be decided for everyone, and right now, we have the depth to hopefully show just how good we really are. This will require big races from Ericka Hibser, Vivian Overbeck, Carly Pederson, and Lorena Martin to push us over the top."
After the MAC Championships, the Huskies will race at the NCAA Regionals, November 11 in Iowa City. NIU competed on the course at the beginning of October for the Midwest Regional Preview where they finished fourth.
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