PEORIA, Ill. – Brooke Lytle (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) was the top finishing Huskie as the Northern Illinois University women's cross country team competed in its final regular season event at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday afternoon (Oct. 15) on the Newman Golf Course. 

As a team, the Huskies finished 29th in the red race against a field with many of the top programs from around the Midwest. 

"I thought we ran pretty well," said NIU cross country head coach Jamie Moreno. "I would say it was probably one of our better races of the year. We missed Katelyn Robbins today, she has been one of our top two or three all season. I was pretty pleased with the team; we still need to step it up a little bit more. We are running good, but not to our full potential yet."

Lytle finished the six-kilometer race in 22:24.0, finishing 85th overall in the field of nearly 300 runners. This is the second time this season that the Waukesha, Wis., native has been NIU's top runner, as she also led the way for the Huskies in the season-opening Hawkeye Invitational (Sept. 3). 

Sara Atkins (Warrenville, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) was the second Huskie to cross the line, running a time of 23:51.1. 

Julia Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) led a group of three NIU runners that all finished within five seconds of each other as she posted a time of 23:08.7. Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) was close behind in 23:13.0 while Joy Jackson (North Aurora, Ill./Benet Academy) completed the trio with a time of 23:13.2. 

That trio, along with Kaitlin Miller (Rochester, Minn./Rochester Century), Victoria Robinson (Lansing, Kan./Kansas State) and Emma Vorpagel (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), were separated by less than 30 seconds. 

"They found each other in about the middle of the race and were able to work together," said Moreno. "But we have to get that group a little further up in the race, that is going to be a key at the conference meet. We had a good meet, not great. We aren't running to our full potential yet, but we have that potential in a couple weeks at the conference meet."

Up next for the Huskies will be the Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Eagle Crest Country Club in Ypsilanti, Mich. 


Team Standings
1. Nebraska, 122
2. Iowa, 136
3. Bradley, 207
4. South Dakota State, 229
5. South Dakota, 242
6. Illinois State, 246
7. Milwaukee, 308
8. Xavier, 310
9. Dayton, 331
10. Marquette, 340
29. NIU, 719

NIU Individuals
85. Brooke Lytle, 22:24.0
136. Sara Atkins, 22:51.1
174. Julia Finegan, 23:08.7
181. Hannah Ricci, 23:13.0
183. Joy Jackson, 23:13.2
200. Kaitlin Miller, 23:20.7
209. Victoria Robinson, 23:28.7
210. Emma Vorpagel, 23:34.1