PEORIA, Ill. – Despite having just five runners finish, the Northern Illinois University women's cross country team earned an eighth-place finish in the white race at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday afternoon (Oct. 18) on the Newman Golf Course.
Bailey Wilk (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) paced the Huskies with a time of 23:20.79 to earn a top 50 finish.
"We had some people run faster than they have, so we had runners get better today," said NIU head coach Juan Carrillo. "A couple of our top five runners did not finish, so that definitely affected us. They are dealing with some sickness, I don't think they were 100 percent recovered, but they still tried to help the team. Once we get healthy in the next two weeks, we can be better."
Northwestern's Mia Mraz won the Bradley Pink Classic White Race with a time of 21:35.88 while the Wildcats took the team title with 36 points, narrowly defeating second-place Kentucky who scored 39.
Wilk bettered her best six-kilometer time of the season by almost five seconds as she claimed 42nd overall.
Rachel Dietrich (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) was nearly 90 seconds better than her previous best 6K this year as she finished 73rd in 24:11.10.
"We competed better and pushed a little harder today than in previous meets," said Carrillo. "One example is
Rachel Dietrich, she is an 800-meter runner, but she finished as our number two runner today, so that is promising to see a freshman step up and take that role in a race. Overall, I just think we were able to push harder today."
Emma Vorpagel (Hartland, Wis./Hartland) ran 24:24.94,
Morgan Gioia (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) recorded a time of 24:27.87 and
Carly Leonard (New South Wales, Australia/Therry Catholic) finished in 25:47.53 today for the Huskies.
NIU will now look ahead to the Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Muncie, Ind., on the Ball State Cross Country Course.
Team Standings
1. Northwestern, 36
2. Kentucky, 39
3. Missouri State, 77
4. Indiana State, 98
5. St. Thomas (Minn.), 125
8. NIU, 239
NIU Individuals
42.
Bailey Wilk, 23:20.79
73.
Rachel Dietrich, 24:11.10
80.
Emma Vorpagel, 24:24.94
81.
Morgan Gioia, 24:27.87
119.
Carly Leonard, 25:47.53
