Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Roberts Finishes Runner-Up at Big Ten Championships
10/28/2018 12:15:00 PM | Women's Cross Country & Track
Northwestern finished in seventh place overall
FINAL RESULTS
LINCOLN, Neb. – Junior Aubrey Roberts crossed the line in second place in the 6K race at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday morning, earning First Team All-Big Ten Honors for the second time in her career while Northwestern finished in seventh overall. Roberts' second-place finish is the highest ever for a Wildcat at the Big Ten Championships.
Roberts is only the second Wildcat ever to make the First-Team All-Big Ten team. Rachel Evjen was the first in program history when she finished fifth at the championship event in 2001.
"It was a great performance by the team and by Aubrey as the highest Big Ten individual finisher in program history," head coach 'AHavahla Haynes said. "As a team we ran a solid race and stuck to our race plan."
Last year at the Big Ten Championship meet, Roberts finished in sixth place individually with a time of 20:26.3 on the Indiana University Championships Cross Country course. On Sunday, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, native crossed the line in 19:58.4 as one of only two runners in a field of 123 to break 20 minutes on the Mahoney Golf Course. She was just nine seconds behind the first-place finisher. Roberts' time was also a personal best as the junior topped her previous best of 20:10.0 at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 13 earlier in the season.
The seventh-place team finish was the highest Big Ten finish by a Northwestern cross country team since the expansion of the Big Ten which expanded from 12 teams to 14 teams in 2014.
Northwestern at the Big Ten Championship meet since 2012 when the 'Cats also took seventh place with 185 points. On Sunday, the Wildcats had 200 points against top-ranked competition. The teams that finished ahead of the 'Cats were all ranked top-25 in the country heading into the meet. The 'Cats finished just 33 points behind No. 21 Minnesota.
Junior Sarah Nicolson crossed the line second for the Wildcats with a time of 21:05.8 to finish 36th overall, running her fastest time of the 2018 campaign. First-year Sielle Kearney, senior Isabel Seidel and first-year Rachel McCardell rounded out the top five scoring for the 'Cats. Seidel also ran her fastest time of the 2018 season at 21:54.4.
"We are headed in the right direction as a program and we are looking forward to the Midwest Regional next," Haynes added.
Northwestern returns to action on Friday, Nov. 9 when it travels to Peoria, Illinois, for the NCAA Midwest Regional at 11:45 a.m. CT.
Big Ten Championships (6K)
Aubrey Roberts (2) – 19:58.4
Sarah Nicholson (36) – 21:05.8
Sielle Kearney (51) – 21:35.3
Isabel Seidel (61) – 21:54.4
Rachel McCardell (63) – 21:56.1
Hannah Hall (100) – 22:56.2
Kelly O'Brien (113) – 23:26.1
Jazmine Reyes (119) – 23:47.5
Sara McCoy (120) – 23:55.5
Players Mentioned
