Led By Barham, #B1GCats Cap Cross Country Season At Midwest Regional

11/13/2015 8:35:00 PM | Women's Cross Country & Track

By: Paul Kennedy

LAWRENCE, Kans. – Northwestern wrapped up the 2015 cross-country season at Friday's NCAA Midwest Regional at historic Rim Rock Farm on the campus of the University of Kansas. Senior Elena Barham was the top finisher for the Wildcats, completing the challenging 6K course in 21:41.0.

2015 NCAA Midwest Regional – RESULTS

Barham set the pace for Northwestern for the third consecutive race at a 6K distance, which included a team-best 21:17.2 result at the 2015 Big Ten Championships.

She was followed by classmate Rachel Weathered, who bounced back from an injury-interrupted Conference championship meet to finish in 22:13.7. Sophomore Sara Coffey was next in 22:33.9, followed by Elena Miller, Brooke Pigneri, Renee Wellman and Megan O'Brien.

Four Big Ten Conference peers joined the Wildcats in Lawrence, led by the Minnesota Golden Gophers who secured a third-place finish. The top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team at each of the three regionals advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Louisville, Ky. Additional teams and individual participants will be chosen through an at-large selection process, which will be announced via press release distributed by the NCAA on Saturday, Nov. 14 after 3 p.m. ET.

The University of Kansas hosts its home cross-country meets at historic Rim Rock Farm, northwest of Lawrence. In addition to having two covered bridges as part of the course, Rim Rock Farm also features specific hills, turns and other landmarks, and dispersed throughout the course are silhouette statues of seven legendary Jayhawk distance runners.