Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Geared Up for Big Ten Meet
10/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Oct. 31, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The championship season will officially arrive for the Northwestern cross country team Sunday morning, when they run at the Big Ten Championships in East Lansing, Mich.
The race will take place at the Forest Akers East Golf Course; the women's 6K race will begin at 10:45 a.m., followed by the men's 8K race at 11:30. This will be the first time ever the Big Ten Championship women's race will go six kilometers; previously it was a 5K race.
Click here for complete championship information, including directions to the course.
According to NU head coach Amy Tush, the Wildcats are a wild card in a race that features four nationally ranked teams -- host Michigan State (6), Michigan (10), Wisconsin (18) and Penn State (19).
"The top four are pretty well established, in my opinion," she said. "However, I feel like we could finish anywhere from fifth place to last. We have run against a lot of the other Big Ten teams during the course of the fall, and lost to nearly all of them. However, I feel we still have our best racing ahead of us, and if we run well Sunday we will be able to avenge some of those earlier losses."
The 'Cats figure to be led by junior Diana Hossfeld and senior Emily Blakeslee. Hossfeld has been NU's top finisher in three of the four races she has run this year, and broke the 22-minute mark on this course in September. Blakeslee, meanwhile, broke through to beat Hossfeld at Pre-Nationals two weeks ago and is also familiar with the Forest Akers course -- she and NU teammate Nora Colligan ran it many times as high-schoolers in Michigan.
"Diana ran very well here in September, so I expect her to have a good meet Sunday," said Tush. "Emily is coming off a great race at Pre-Nationals, and I expect her and Nora will have quite a crew here cheering them on. It is going to be a fun day."
With the loss of numerous seniors from a year ago, Tush also brings a group to East Lansing that will be making its championship-race debut. She is not overly concerned about that, though.
"The two freshmen, Casey Shea and Mallory O'Niel, should be fine," she said. "Casey actually seems to thrive on this type of atmosphere, so I expect to see her in our top five. I also expect big things from Nicole Kalogeropoulos -- as a senior, she is racing in her first and last Big Ten Championship. I look for her to make the most of this opportunity."
Michigan State enters the race as the highest ranked team, but it is Michigan who comes in as defending champion -- last year the Wolverines edged the Spartans out of the title by three points, despite MSU's Michelle Carson and Jamie Krzyminski going 1-2 individually. On Sunday, Tush figures to see the two Michigan schools again fighting for the trophy.
"Michigan State has got to be the favorite coming in," she said. "However, Michigan is right there with them. I expect this to be a good race Sunday."
