TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Sophomore Ashley Tutt (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) led the way with a second-place finish, just six seconds behind the individual champion, as the Northern Illinois University cross country team earned a third-place finish on Saturday morning at the John McNichols Invitational on the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Butler captured the team title with a score of 31, Purdue took second with 66 while NIU scored 75 points to finish third. 

"Overall as a squad we were pretty tired," said NIU cross country head coach Adrian Myers. "We have been putting in some monster weeks up to this point, both in terms of volume and intensity. So we certainly aren't discouraged by our finish because of where we have been at from a training standpoint and looking ahead to the bigger meets. 

"We can correct fatigue, but it's hard to make-up fitness, so we are in a good spot as we look ahead to the weeks coming."

Tutt was the first Huskie across the line, finishing the 5K distance in 17:53.4, just behind the race winner Josephine Thestrup of Butler who broke the tape in 17:47.8.

"We held Ashley Tutt back a little bit for race strategy," explained Myers. "We wanted to pull the pack along and not necessarily concern ourselves with the individual race, but she still almost came back to run down the meet winner from behind in the final straight. Ashely looked great for her opening race of the season, especially with how conservative we had her race." 

Sophomore Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) was the second Huskie across the line with a time of 18:36.1, finishing 13th overall. Junior Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) just snuck inside the top-20 with a time of 18:46.7 while sophomore Daly Galloway (Dwight, Ill./Dwight) was right behind in 21st with a time of 18:48.3

Also scoring for the Huskies were freshman Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) who was 31st with a time of 18:58.6, sophomore Sara Atkins (Warrenville, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) who clocked in at 19:01.6 to take 36th and sophomore Nora Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd), whose time of 19:23.0 was good for 44th overall. 

NIU's third-place finish was just ahead of fourth-place Indiana State, who came into the meet ranked 11th in the Great Lakes Region, and ahead of conference rival Akron, as the Zips finished fifth. 

The Huskies will now look ahead to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Presented by Under Armour, in Madison, Wis., on Friday, September 28. 

Team Scores
1. Butler, 31
2. Purdue, 66
3. NIU, 75
4. Indiana State, 108
5. Akron, 111
6. Milwaukee, 143
7. Cincinnati, 186
8. Northern Kentucky, 208
9. Marshall, 264

NIU Individual Finishes
2. Ashley Tutt, 17:53.4
13. Mackenzie Callahan, 18:36.1
20. Vivian Overbeck, 18:46.7
21. Daly Galloway, 18:48.3
31. Hannah Ricci, 18:58.6
36. Sara Atkins, 19:01.6
44. Nora Finegan, 19:23.0
51. Melissa Ricci, 19:31.6
68. Mercer Mack, 20:29.3
74. Maggie Cavanaugh, 20:53.5
85. Ryan Block, 21:33.4