Sept. 20, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Last weekend the Northwestern women's cross country team was scheduled to run at Illinois State. Those plans were scuttled by the events of the week, but that has given the Wildcats a golden early-season opportunity.
Now, the team will send a dozen runners to Champaign, Ill., this weekend to compete in the Illinois Invitational. The 5K women's race will take place Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
In addition to running on the course that will host the Big Ten Championships on October 28, the Wildcats will have the opportunity to get an early gauge on some of its conference competition. Illinois, Indiana and Iowa are among the schools competing in the 16-team field.
"It is a pleasant surprise for us to be able to see and compete on the course ahead of time," said head coach Amy Tush. "It will be good for our women to get out there and run. I know we can't take anything for granted among our Big Ten opponents, so this will be a good test."
Tush will be counting on Rachel Evjen (Eau Claire, Wis./North), who won the Bradley Open individual title in Northwestern's previous race.
"There are going to be some talented individuals at this race," said Tush. "But Rachel can win this race. She just has to believe it."
The ultimate goal for Saturday's race extends way beyond Evjen, though.
"At Bradley, we were spread out way too much," said Tush. "The goal this weekend is to keep the pack together. Ultimately, we want to have the distance between our first runner and our fifth runner to be less than a minute. We've been working on running in groups of four, not groups of two."
In addition to the Big Ten schools, Tush is anxious to measure her team up against local rival Loyola. It will also present her with her first race against her former school, Butler.
"It'll be a little different, but it will be fun," she said.