NORMAL, Ill. -- Amelie Ojeda (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) finished fifth overall as the Northern Illinois University cross country team competed in the Redbird Invite on Friday (Sept. 18) at the Weibring Golf Course. As a team, the Huskies claimed third with three additional runners finishing in the top-15. 

"Good, solid effort from the seven athletes that competed today," said NIU head coach Juan Carrillo. "Some of our athletes ran PR's, for the first 6K of the season, that is a positive. Amelie (Ojeda) our frontrunner, looked strong and confident. Our middle-distance runners, Claire Helmila, stepped up big-time for us, we are down two of our top distance runners through injury, so I was happy to see 800 runners stepping up. I'm very happy overall with how they pushed and how they competed today."

Ojeda ran 21:35.6 to earn her fifth-place finish. Sarah Maggio (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) and Claire Helmila (Greenville, Wis./Freedom) finished with nearly identical times, Maggio taking 11th in 22:27.0 and Helmila claiming 12th in 22:27.4. Ella Spencer (Wiltshire, England) was the third Huskies in the top-15 as she ran a time of 22:33.2, earning a 14th-place finish. 

"Ninety percent of our athletes ran faster today through 5K than they ran (5K) two weeks ago, even having an extra kilometer in the race," said Carrillo. "That's a big plus to see, some of them ran a (would be) PR in a 5K here, in a 6K race, so that's pretty good. That tells you a lot about how we raced today." 

NIU will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 2, when the Huskies travel to South Bend, Ind., to compete in the Joe Piane Invite. 

Team Standings
1. Illinois State, 23
2. Iowa, 45
3. NIU, 64
4. Eastern Illinois, 116
5. Illinois-Springfield, 133

NIU Individuals
5. Amelie Ojeda, 21:35.6
11. Sarah Maggio, 22:27.0
12. Claire Helmila, 22:27.4
14. Ella Spencer, 22:33.2
22. Emerson Fabry, 23:29.2
26. Ariel Hernandez, 23:37.9
31. Sofia Pena, 24:06.8