Northwestern University Athletics
The 1999 Season in Review
11/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Nov. 16, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women?s cross country program took several steps forward in its second year back. The Wildcats won three of their first four meets this fall, and placed no lower than third in a meet before a seventh-place finish at the Big Ten Championships on October 30 in State College, Pa. Their season ended at the NCAA District 5 meet, as the Wildcats finished sixth out of 25 teams but were unable to secure a bid for the national championship race (top two schools qualify).
Cherisse Lancaster (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) broke the tape at the first two meets of the fall, winning the 2-mile UIC Home Opener on Sept. 4 and the 5-kilometer Stan Lyons Invitational in Indianapolis on Sept. 11. She also had a sixth-place finish at the Lakefront Invitational on Oct. 2, but unfortunately was lost to injury after the fourth meet, which put additional pressure on the rest of the team. Several athletes responded ?senior Mary Beth Ellis (Lewes, Del./Lawrenceville) was the ?Cats top finisher at the South Florida Invitational on Oct. 15 (fourth overall), and freshman Karen Rogers (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) was the top ?Cat at the Big Ten meet (19th overall) as well as the Purdue Invitational on October 8 (third overall). At the NCAA District 5 meet on November 13, freshman Rachel Evjen (Eau Claire, Wis./North) was NU?s top runner, as she placed 25th overall to earn all-district honors. Jennifer Anderson (Rockford, Ill./Auburn Academy), who was Northwestern?s top runner in 1998, enjoyed another successful campaign. She was a top-six finisher in each of the first five races before placing 32nd at the Big Ten meet and 49th at the District 5 meet.
