Trio Of ‘Cats Land In Top 25, No. 12 Northwestern Takes Third At Loyola Lakefront Invitational

CHICAGO (September 25, 2026) – Led by a group of three top-25 finishers, No. 12 Northwestern cross country posted a third-place finish this morning at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Ill.

The ‘Cats closed their morning at the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course with a team score of 123 points to outdistance Vanderbilt (150 points) by 27 points for third place.  No. 20 Virginia (71) brought home the team title, while No. 24 Minnesota (112 points) earned runner-up honors.

Ava Criniti paced Northwestern’s top five in the women’s 6k championship race on a cool morning on Chicago’s North Side.  The Lexington, Mass. native clocked a 12-second personal best at the distance, powering across in 19:42.2 to place ninth overall. 

Cary Drake turned in the first sub-20 minute 6k of her career, taking a full minute of her previous top time as she finished 16^th at 19:49.5. Skye Ellis rounded out a trio of Wildcats to come in under the 20-minute mark, taking 23^rd with a time of 19:58.1.

Jackie Holman and Eliza Nicholson closed out the Wildcats’ top five, each turning in new personal bests of their own.  Holman clocked in at 20:09.0, placing 35^th, to shave three seconds off her previous top effort.  Nicholson came in just over three seconds back in 40^th, running 20:12.9, a near 14-second personal best.

The Wildcats were also well-represented in the 6k open race later in the morning, with Maddy Whitman and Ella Goodsell spearheading the attack.  Whitman, who ran unattached, brought home a runner-up finish in 20:28.2, while Goodsell took third in only her second collegiate appearance, crossing in 20:28.8.

 Northwestern will be back in action on Friday, October 9, when it heads north to Madison, Wis. for the Nuttycombe Invitational.