Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Wildcats Finish Ninth at Big Tens
11/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Nov. 2, 2003
Click here for complete Big Ten Championship results
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Prior to Sunday's Big Ten Cross Country Championship meet, Northwestern head coach Amy Tush said her team could finish anywhere from fifth to 11th.
After Sunday's race at the Forest Akers West course in East Lansing, Mich. was complete, she was extremely upbeat following a ninth-place finish.
"Ninth is not necessarily where we wanted to be," she acknowledged. "However, we were able to beat Purdue, who beat us earlier this year, and we had a few women run great races and get personal bests."
The way Tush saw it, the stage is set for a breakout performance at the Midwest Regional Championships in two weeks.
"That is the angle I am taking after this race," she said. "So far this year, we have had several different people have outstanding races at different times, and today was no different. If we are able to get them all on the same page, we will have a good top five that will do very well.
"I don't think we have reached our potential as a team," she continued. "We have had people reach their goals; now we need to get them to do it on the same day."
Junior Diana Hossfeld reclaimed her spot at the top of the Northwestern lineup in Sunday's race. The two-time All-District runner finished 17th overall, just out of All-Big Ten contention, with a time of 21:46.3. Given the difficult conditions on a course covered by rain all morning leading up to the race, it was a gutty performance -- in September, she ran 21:43.3 on this same course.
"Diana struggled a few weeks ago at Pre-Nationals, but she really came on strong in the second half of today's race and seems to be back on track," said Tush. "She is gearing up for a great showing at regionals."
Northwestern's surprise second finisher was senior Nora Colligan. Running in her home state -- Nora and classmate Emily Blakeslee hail from Rockford, Mich. -- Colligan busted out a career-best time of 22:07.1 for 30th overall. Blakeslee, who was NU's top runner at Pre-Nationals a few weeks ago, was the Wildcats' third runner Sunday (22:35.1 for 51 points).
Sophomore Kalysta Harmon (22:42.3/54 points) and senior Nicole Kalogeropoulos (22:54.3/61 points) were NU's other scorers Sunday. Four other women ran for Northwestern at the race -- juniors Kyna Forkins and Lesley Meade, and freshmen Casey Shea and Mallory O'Niel.
In the first year that the Big Ten championship was competed as a 6K -- previously it had been a 5K race for women -- 10th-ranked Michigan was able to pull out the team title for the second year in a row. The Wolverines scored 31 points, defeating No. 6 Michigan State by 26 points. Penn State was third with 76 points, the only other team below 150.
Michigan also boasts the individual champion; Rebecca Walter clocked 20:40.5 over the 6-kilometer course to defeat defending champion Michelle Carson of Michigan State (20:49.1).
Northwestern is back in action on Nov. 15 -- two Saturdays from now -- when the Wildcats compete at the Midwest Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla. The top two teams in that race will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be run Monday, Nov. 24 in Waterloo, Iowa.
RACE SUMMARY
Team Scores at the Big Ten Championships
1. Michigan, 31 points
2. Michigan State, 57
3, Penn State, 76
4. Indiana, 164
5. Wiscnosin, 167
6. Minnesota, 170
7. Illinois, 188
8. Ohio State, 197
9. Northwestern, 213
10. Purdue, 231
11. Iowa, 241
NU Runners at the Big Ten Championships
17. Diana Hossfeld, 21:46.3
30. Nora Colligan, 22:07.1
51. Emily Blakeslee, 22.35.1
54. Kalysta Harmon, 22:42.3
61. Nicole Kalogeropoulos, 22:54.3
73. Mallory O'Niel, 23:26.4
75. Kyna Forkins, 23:42.0
86. Casey Shea, 23:49.0
91. Lesley Meade, 24:19.0
