Women's Cross Country | November 18

DeKALB, Ill. – For the first time in school history, the Northern Illinois University cross country team is sending a runner to the NCAA National Championships after senior Hope Schmelzle (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) qualified at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship last weekend. The race on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. CST.

Schmelzle blew past NIU's previous 6k school record (20:27.8) set by junior teammate Kelsey Hildreth (Byron, Ill./Byron) at Regionals with a 20:16.9 third place finish.

"I am so proud of Hope and all that she's accomplished to this point," said NIU head coach Adrian Myers. "She's coming to peak form at the right time, and we expect her to do very well this weekend. If she runs as composed as she did at Regionals, Hope will come home with some hardware."

NCAA National Championships include 18 automatic qualifying teams, 13 at-large teams and 38 individual qualifiers. Individuals like Schmelzle qualify by finishing in the top-25 in their respective region.
 
Schmelzle's race plan for the event will be similar to the strategy she has used all year. She runs a confident race with her strong suit being the end. Schmelzle is known in races to come from behind at the very end and push to get past the competition in front of her.
 
"Hope has shown everyone looking at NIU that you can come here and be successful on the national level," said Myers. "She has opened the door to the next generation of Huskies and I'm so grateful to call myself her coach. Being at the National Championship is a testament to her desire to get here and take a shot at becoming an All-American."
 
Fans can follow Schmelzle by watching the race using a FREE 7-day trial subscription on FloTrack.com or by following live results via Record Timing.
 
-NIU-