PEORIA, Illinois -- Northwestern cross country will wrap up the fall regular-season by taking on some of of the Midwest's best Friday at the Bradley Invitational.
RESULTS: 2022 Bradley Invitational
Racing at the Newman Golf Course is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. with the running of the women's 6K white race, while the women's 6K red race is slated for 3 p.m. The 'Cats will travel the maximum 12 runners allowed by the Big Ten, with Elizabeth Bulat and Hannah Hall representing the team in the white race, and Kalea Bartolotto, Ava Earl, Serena Frolli, Katherine Hessler, Anna Hightower, Fiona Lenth, Ari Marks, Rachel McCardell, Olivia Verbeke and Maddy Whitman running in the red race.
"We have trained hard through the last two weeks and I'm excited to see what our team can do with tired legs," said head coach Jill Miller before the team headed south. "Navigating illness and midterm week is always challenging, but this week will be a test of our resilience while keeping our eyes on the greater goals ahead at the Big Ten & NCAA Regional Championships. This will be a new experience for our entire group as nobody on the roster has ever run in this event."
The Wildcats, who sit at No. 3 in the Midwest in the most recent USTFCCCA rankings, will face five of the Top-15 teams in the Region in the race. The field includes No. 2 Illinois, No. 5 Bradley, No. 11 Loyola, No. 14 South Dakota State, No. 15 North Dakota State, North Dakota, Drake, Illinois State, Miami (Ohio), Grand Valley State and Cincinnati.
Last time out, three Wildcats raced into the Top-8 at the 2022 Gans Creek Classic at the University of Missouri, leading Northwestern to a third-place result in the 24-team field. McCardell paced Northwestern in third-place (20:36.6), while Marks crossed the line in seventh (20:38.5) narrowly edging out Bartolotto in eighth (20:38.8) to make NU the only team in the field with three finishers in the Top-8. Sophomores Hightower (20th; 20:58.5) and Hessler (25th; 21:04.0) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats who claimed third-place, just eight points back of the top spot on the leaderboard.
After this weekend's race, the team will have a week off before taking on the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 28), NCAA Midwest Regional (Nov. 11) and NCAA Championships (Nov. 19).
RESULTS: 2022 Bradley Invitational
Racing at the Newman Golf Course is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. with the running of the women's 6K white race, while the women's 6K red race is slated for 3 p.m. The 'Cats will travel the maximum 12 runners allowed by the Big Ten, with Elizabeth Bulat and Hannah Hall representing the team in the white race, and Kalea Bartolotto, Ava Earl, Serena Frolli, Katherine Hessler, Anna Hightower, Fiona Lenth, Ari Marks, Rachel McCardell, Olivia Verbeke and Maddy Whitman running in the red race.
"We have trained hard through the last two weeks and I'm excited to see what our team can do with tired legs," said head coach Jill Miller before the team headed south. "Navigating illness and midterm week is always challenging, but this week will be a test of our resilience while keeping our eyes on the greater goals ahead at the Big Ten & NCAA Regional Championships. This will be a new experience for our entire group as nobody on the roster has ever run in this event."
The Wildcats, who sit at No. 3 in the Midwest in the most recent USTFCCCA rankings, will face five of the Top-15 teams in the Region in the race. The field includes No. 2 Illinois, No. 5 Bradley, No. 11 Loyola, No. 14 South Dakota State, No. 15 North Dakota State, North Dakota, Drake, Illinois State, Miami (Ohio), Grand Valley State and Cincinnati.
Last time out, three Wildcats raced into the Top-8 at the 2022 Gans Creek Classic at the University of Missouri, leading Northwestern to a third-place result in the 24-team field. McCardell paced Northwestern in third-place (20:36.6), while Marks crossed the line in seventh (20:38.5) narrowly edging out Bartolotto in eighth (20:38.8) to make NU the only team in the field with three finishers in the Top-8. Sophomores Hightower (20th; 20:58.5) and Hessler (25th; 21:04.0) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats who claimed third-place, just eight points back of the top spot on the leaderboard.
After this weekend's race, the team will have a week off before taking on the Big Ten Championships (Oct. 28), NCAA Midwest Regional (Nov. 11) and NCAA Championships (Nov. 19).