Northwestern University Athletics
The 2003 Season in Review
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Dec. 1, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - For the Northwestern University women's cross country team, lightning was unable to strike twice; after receiving an NCAA bid in 2002, the Wildcats were unable to put it all together and repeat that performance in 2003.
It was a season that was both uplifting and frustrating. On the one hand, several of the women - especially the front-running upperclassmen - had races where they recorded personal bests; at the same time, those performances never came at the same time, and as a result the Wildcats' were consistently disjointed and never met the potential head coach Amy Tush saw.
When asked if this year was frustrating, Tush replied "yes and no. I think the thing that people need to remember is that this was, in many ways, a building year all along. We had lost a lot of our experience and depth from the year before and so we had a lot of people in new positions. In my opinion, we had a number of women perform above their expectations.
"A lot of people did not expect us to do well this season but I thought we did some good things."
Following an appearance by some NU runners at the Indiana State Sycamore Pride meet on September 6, the Wildcats participated in the Spartan Invitational. Led by junior Diana Hossfeld's 21:43.3 race - her second-best time at the 6-kilometer distance, and the 11th-best time in NU history at that distance - the 'Cats finished fourth of 12 teams. Emily Blakeslee was second in 22:09.4, while seniors Nora Colligan and Nicole Kalogeropoulos sandwiched freshman Casey Shea to finish within 30 seconds of Blakeslee.
It was a less striking performance a week later at the Roy Griak meet in Minneapolis. Every woman was nearly 30 seconds off the pace of her previous race, and the result was a 23rd-place finish at the meet.
October 4 proved to be an historic day for the team, as Tush ran every healthy woman on the roster at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational in Chicago. Hossfeld finished 14th overall, clocking 18:06 on the 5-kilometer course, and was followed by the senior trio of Blakeslee, Kalogeropoulos and Colligan. Shea rounded out the scoring as NU finished fourth out of 17 teams.
One week later, junior Kyna Forkins - a veteran of last year's championship meets who was hampered by injury early this season - made her return and was NU's top runner at the 5K Forester Invitational in Lake Forest, Ill.
October 18 was the first chance to see where Northwestern stood nationally, as the Wildcats competed in the Pre-National Gold race in Waterloo, Iowa, the site of this year's NCAA Cross Country Championships. Blakeslee broke Hossfeld's hold on the team title, covering the course in 21:53.7 to finish six seconds ahead of her teammate and 70th overall. Sophomore Kalysta Harmon also broke through with a personal best, at 22:38.6, and was third among NU runners; Kalogeropoulos and Colligan closed out the 'Cat scoring.
The same day, Forkins cemented her spot on NU's nine-woman Big Ten Championship team as the Wildcats' top runner at the UW-Parkside Invitational. The other woman who earned a spot on the squad was junior newcomer Lesley Meade, who edged out freshman Katie Romaine by one second in Kenosha, Wis.
The Big Ten Championships is also a high-caliber meet, and this season was no exception. A pair of teams ranked nationally in the Top 10, Michigan and Michigan State, took the top two spots. Northwestern placed ninth out of the 11 teams overall, led by Hossfeld who narrowly missed All-Big Ten honors with a 17th-place finish individually. Colligan broke through for her best race as a collegian, clocking 22:07.1 to finish 30th overall and second among NU women. Blakeslee and Kalogeropoulos were joined by Harmon to finish as the Wildcat scorers.
Seven women took to the course at the Midwest Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla., November 15. With the individual performances she had seen her women put together throughout the season, Tush was hoping they might be able to mesh for this one meet and earn another NCAA berth. Alas, it was not to be - Hossfeld met her goal, earning All-District and Academic All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in 21:48, but the next NU runner - Kalogeropoulos - was nearly a minute behind. Though Colligan, Harmon and Blakeslee were all within range of Kalogeropoulos, the damage was done; the team finished seventh and thus out of the running for the two automatic bids from the region.
"I was very excited for Diana to get the Academic All-America and All-District honors," said Tush. "She had an up-and-down year, getting injured during a critical time of the season, but she came through at the end of the year.
"I also thought Kalysta turned herself into a pretty good racer, especially in the championship meets when we needed her. I expect her only to improve, and this was a nice building block."
Tush knows she will have some work to do in filling the shoes of departing seniors Colligan, Kalogeropoulos and Catie LaBracke. Colligan and Kalogeropoulos were among NU's top five in every race they ran in 2003, while LaBracke has been a captain for the last two years and provided great leadership.
"Nora was an unspoken leader, who really led by her actions more than her words," said Tush. "She kept the women honest; her attitude and motivation will definitely be missed. Nicole had a good senior year and got back to where she started as a collegian, so it is unfortunate that we lose her. And Catie will be missed for her leadership and organizational skills with this team."
Still, she feels that the youngsters gained much from the campaign and she is confident heading into 2004.
"I really think Diana and Emily will set the tone," she said, noting Blakeslee will run next year as a fifth-year senior. "Even as a freshman, Diana was right up there in our first group, and I know she and I have set some lofty goals for her for next year and she is excited to meet them. She will bear the weight of 'now is the time,' but she is ready for it; she intends to have good off-season preparation and come in ready to be a leader next fall.
"Emily has been a consistent scorer throughout her career and I look to her to also perform beyond what she has already done in her last go-round. She may miss Nora more than anyone else; they have run together for eight years now. But I am confident Emily will step up and be her own runner next fall."
Overall, Tush is upbeat looking toward the future.
"We have some great runners coming in next year, and with the progress some of our women made this year I feel good about next year," she said.
