Northwestern Takes 11th at NCAA Regionals

11/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country & Track

Nov. 13, 2010

Event: NCAA Midwest Regional Championships
Site: Peoria, Ill. • Newman Golf Course
Outcome: 11th/27
Complete Results: Click Here

PEORIA, Ill. -- Northwestern posted its best finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet since 2003 Saturday at Bradley University, taking 11th in the team standings thanks in part to a 17th-place individual showing by sophomore Audrey Huth.

Huth cruised to her second personal-best in as many races, clocking in at 20:35.8 for the 6K meet. She was third among all competitors from the Big Ten Conference and earned all-region honors for her efforts.

"Although our goal was to be top 10 this year, we went into regionals ranked 11th and we finished 11th," said NU head coach April Likhite. "We knew without Sophie racing it was going to be tough, but the girls were prepared for the challenge. Audrey's race was tremendous. She fought hard from the very beginning and didn't let up until the very end earned impressive all-region honors."

Northwestern's next two finishers were true freshmen as Michelle Moriset took 53rd in 21:28 and Lexie Goldsmith placed 72nd with a time of 21:44.

Close behind Goldsmith were NU's next two finishers, Molly Waterhouse in 21:52.53 and junior Abby Tracy 21:58.27.

"Less than 200 meters into the race, a group that included two of our girls went down pretty hard," Likhite said. "Both our girls got up determined to fight on and that they did."

Iowa State won the region with a meet-low 35 points with Oklahoma State and Minnesota claiming second and third, respectively. The top two teams along with the top four individual finishers not on the top two teams receive automatic berths into the NCAA Championship, which will be held on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.

NU concludes a successful season in which it won or tied for first in four meets and recorded its highest individual placings at the Big Ten and NCAA Regional Championships since 2003.

"Overall, this was a huge breakthrough year for our program and I'm very proud of what our young team has accomplished," Likhite said.

Complete individual and team results from the Midwest Regional Championships are linked at the top of the page.

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