PEORIA, Ill. – Sophomore Ashley Tutt (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) paced the Northern Illinois University cross country team with a 14th place finish as the Huskies competed at the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional at Newman Golf Course on Friday morning. Tutt earned all-region honors for the second consecutive year as she helped lead NIU to a 15th place finish in the 34-team field. 

Tutt's 14th place finish is the third-best regional performance in school history for the Huskies. Hope Schmelzle finished third at the 2016 regional while Kelsey Hildreth posted an 11th place finish in 2014. 

"Bradley did a great job of hosting and putting on an excellent event," said NIU head coach Adrian Myers. "There was snow on the course that made it a little heavy, a little slower and added a degree of difficulty to what is traditionally a fairly fast course. We have ourselves a shot in the race, but it just didn't pan out, we just ran out of steam a little bit on the backside of the course and just couldn't close it out against one of the toughest regions in the country. 

"I can't fault our athletes for their effort this weekend, and this season so far, we have a lot that we can build on and a lot to look forward to as a young team. The one thing we can't do is hang our heads, we have to look up and aspire to the great things this group is capable of."

Running with the elite competition in the field, Tutt finished with a time of 20:56.0, just 43 seconds behind meet-winner Cailie Logue of Iowa State. Tutt's 14th-place finish is eight spots better than her 22nd last season at the NCAA Regional. 

"Ashley has been extremely consistent all fall, even though she has battled some injuries," said Myers. "She has still outperformed her freshman year, which was very successful and becoming a two-time all-region performer is a great accomplishment."

Sophomore Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) was the second Huskie across the line, taking 39th with a time of 21:27.5. 

"Mackenzie gave herself a shot at being all-region, she was really close and just fell a little short coming down the home stretch," said Myers. "That is just part of racing, if you ran this race 20 times you would probably get 20 different outcomes."

Sophomore Daly Galloway (Dwight, Ill./Dwight) led a tightly-packed group of Huskies to finish as she hit the line in a time of 22:07.6 to finish 106th, just behind Galloway was junior Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) in 123rd with a time of 22:24.3 and freshman Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) in 22:27.8 to finish 130th. 

Sophomore Sara Atkins (Warrenville, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) earned a time of 23:15.3 to take 183th and junior Mercer Mack (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) was 188th in a time of 23:22.8.

"We fell a little bit short of our goals this year," said Myers. "But we are a program with high aspirations, we think this is the start of greater success down the road and I'm proud to coach this group see what they will accomplish over the next two years."

Iowa State won the team title with a score of 78, Oklahoma State earned the second automatic bid to the NCAA Championships with a team score of 140. 

Team Standings (Top Five)
1. Iowa State, 78
2. Oklahoma State, 140
3. Minnesota, 185
4. Illinois, 203
5. Northwestern, 205
15. NIU, 412

NIU Individual Standings
14. Ashley Tutt, 20:56.0
39. Mackenzie Callahan, 21:27.5
106. Daly Galloway, 22:07.6
123. Vivian Overbeck, 22:24.3
130. Hannah Ricci, 22:27.8
183. Sara Atkins, 23:15.3
188. Mercer Mack, 23:22.8