'Cats Compete in South Bend

10/1/2021 2:25:00 PM | General, Women's Cross Country & Track

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern Wildcats experienced their first major test against nationally ranked programs at the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Oct. 1. The 'Cats finished 24th out of 25 teams, 12 of which are ranked among the top 29 in the country in the women's 5,000-meter blue race at Burke Golf Course.

Junior Rachel McCardell led the 'Cats and placed 13th in 16:33 among a top pack that included returning All-Americans and NCAA champions. Only two seconds separated McCardell from Big Ten cross-country champion Bethany Hasz of Minnesota, who placed 10th overall. Just ahead of them, the Alabama duo of Mercy Chelangat (2020 NCAA cross-country champion) and Flomena Asekol went 1-2 in 16:10.3 and 16:10.7, respectively.

The rest of the team had some difficulty navigating a challenging field filled with NCAA podium contenders. Behind McCardell, sophomore Kalea Bartolotto placed 96th in 17:26 after passing 28 runners from the mile to the 4,000-meter mark and 11 athletes from 4,000 meters to the finish. Senior Lotte Van Der Pol came in as the 'Cats third runner with a time of 17:43 for 136th. Freshman Abbie Draheim placed 162nd with a time of 18:03, and junior Amanda Mosborg finished 172nd to round out the Wildcats' team score of 556 points. Freshmen Fiona Lenth and Anna Hightower placed 183rd and 184th, respectively, and junior Olivia Verbeke finished 188th.

No. 1 North Carolina State won the team competition with 38 points to beat runner-up No. 3 New Mexico's 94-point total.

"We talk a lot about failure and how it provides opportunity for growth. It's an easy concept to discuss but harder to implement. Without a doubt, we will learn from the mistakes we made today and make certain we become stronger because of them," head coach Jill Miller said after the race. "This team has yet to see a national caliber field packed in on a tight course and that showed from the start through the finish today. We know we are better than this result and the goal will be to use this as a catalyst to be better during the championship phase of the season."

After the blue race concluded, four 'Cats competed in the women's open 5,000 meters. Sophomore Katherine Hessler placed 33rd in 18:19. The freshman duo of Whitney Currie and Deepti Choudhury finished 40th and 41st in 18:29.2 and 18:29.3, respectively. And freshman Maggie Mason placed 52nd in 18:39.

Northwestern will return to competition at the Penn State National Open on Friday, October 15.