Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Ranked No. 12 in Region
10/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Oct. 2, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Following a strong showing in the adidas Invitational over the weekend, the cross country team garnered the No. 12 spot in the Midwest Regional top-15 rankings.
"I am very pleased with how our team raced last Friday at Notre Dame. They were given a goal to go after and they accomplished that goal," coach April Likhite said. "My team was determined to go after Illinois State, and that is exactly what they did. As a coach, it's extremely exciting to see hard work pay off."
The team has been led by Carly Brown (Kalispell, Mont./Flathead), who has finished first on the team in three of the four races that she has run. Senior Celia Franklin (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) has finished close behind Brown and won the team title at the Illinois Intercollegiates on Sept. 14.
In five races this year, the team has finished in the top 10 all five times, including four finishes in the top 5.
Ranked first in the poll is Minnesota, followed by Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Missouri State, Tulsa, Wichita State, Iowa State and Missouri. At the No. 11 spot is Kansas State. Rounding out the top 15 are: Illinois State, Oklahoma and Kansas.
"We were hoping a win against Illinois State might give us regional recognition and we were happy to see the rankings," Likhite said. Obviously this is a big step in the direction we want to go, but we know we still have our biggest meets ahead of us."
Northwestern next races at the Bradley Invite on Oct. 12 in Peoria, Ill.
