SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sara Atkins was the highest finishing Huskie as the Northern Illinois University women's cross country team competed in the Gold Race at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational on Friday afternoon (Oct. 1).
"Today went pretty well," said NIU head coach
Jamie Moreno. "We had a couple girls that maybe had not raced great the last couple weeks that definitely performed better.
Hannah Ricci had a much better race for us.
Sara Atkins was our number one runner for the first time, so that gives us three different people who have been our number one runner this season, which shows that we don't have a clear frontrunner, but we have a pack where anybody can be our number one runner.
"One thing we did better was our one through five time gap was around 45 seconds, which is positive. Anytime you can have that time gap under a minute that is good. I was pleased, we are still getting there but I am seeing small steps and positive things with each one of our women. We haven't quite put it all together yet, we are not where we want to be, but we are coming along."
Atkins ran a time of 18:43.9 over the five-kilometer course to finish 71st in the field of 171 runners, leading a pack of three Huskies that were within 10 seconds of each other.
Katelyn Robbins (Liberty, Ill./Liberty) was 79th in 18:48.3 while
Brooke Lytle (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) ran a time of 18:53.9 to finish 91st.
NIU's next four runners finished within 15 seconds of each other, led by
Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) in 19:25.9.
Victoria Robinson (Lansing, Kan./Lansing) was just behind in 19:27.1 with
Julia Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) running a time of 19:37.0 and
Joy Jackson (North Aurora, Ill./Benet Academy) running 19:39.0.
Up next for the Huskies will be the Bradley Pink Invitational on Friday, Oct. 15, in Peoria, Ill.
Team Standings
1. Cal Baptist, 44
2. Charlotte, 132
3. Auburn, 178
4. Akron, 206
5. Eastern Kentucky, 233
6. Clemson, 240
7. Ball State, 241
8. Cincinnati, 253
9. Ohio State, 262
10. Kennesaw State, 271
21. NIU, 494
Gold Race
71.
Sara Atkins, 18:43.9
79.
Katelyn Robbins, 18:48.3
91.
Brooke Lytle, 18:53.9
129.
Hannah Ricci, 19:25.9
131.
Victoria Robinson, 19:27.1
136.
Julia Finegan, 19:37.0
138.
Joy Jackson, 19:39.0
159.
Emma Vorpagel, 20:31.1
Open 5K
110.
Kaitlin Miller, 19:45.1
