DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University cross country team heads north this Saturday to race at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The race begins at 1:35 p.m., Central.
 
The Huskies will take on 34 teams including nine nationally ranked programs and 17 regionally ranked teams, including Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan, who is ranked thirteenth in the Great Lakes region.
 
Head Coach Adrian Myers is more focused on the nationally ranked opponents - No. 30 Portland, No. 25 Minnesota and No. 29 Mississippi State as well as Midwest regionally ranked No. 7 Oklahoma.
 
"This will be our first true test of the season," said Myers. "There's minimal room for error, and there will be a lot of pressure for our program this weekend. At the end of the day, it's going to be a matter of execution, everyone doing their job. If we do that, we'll come out happy with our result."
 
At this meet last year, the Huskies took 21st place with frontrunner Kelsey Hildreth (Byron, Ill./Byron) taking seventh overall. Coach Myers has high hopes for Hildreth to compete well once again this weekend. Along with Hildreth, Myers is looking to senior Hope Schmelzle (Wheaton/Wheaton Warrenville South) who has led the pack for the first two meets.
 
"Hope and Kelsey realistically should be in the top ten," said Myers of the duo. "[Hildreth's] outlook and my outlook are aligned. We think she can go for a similar performance to last year, if not better, and Hope has been on fire in training. They're going to be a very tough one, two up front for us."
 
The team is looking to Ericka Hibser (Lewistown, I'll./Lewistown), Carly Pederson (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), Lorena Martin (Salamanca, Spain/ISF Fray Luis de Leon) and Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) as well as Ali Olson (New Auburn, Wis./Bloomer) and Maura Beattie (Woodstock, I'll./Woodstock) to fill in the last scoring positions.
 
Coach Myers' enthusiasm showed as he talked about the leading six.
 
"Our chase pack of Carly, Lorena, Vivian and Ali, they'll be the ones that decide our fate. I feel comfortable with their level of fitness, and they're just ready right now. I think they'll be able to get the job done even though the course will be challenging."

The race can be watched via FloTrack with a subscription.
 
Teams Competing: Arizona, Boise State, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Duke, Eastern Washington, Furman, Georgia Tech, Idaho State, Illinois, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Navy, Northeastern, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pitt, Portland, Northern Arizona, Rutgers, San Francisco, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Utah, UCLA, UMKC, Utah Valley, and Wyoming.
 
–NIU–