Photo credit: Megan Slamkowski
Graduate students Rachel McCardell, Ari Marks, and senior Kalea Bartrot run in the pack. All three earned all-regional certification at the NCAA Midwest Regionals alongside her sophomore Ava Earl.
It’s time to lace up your spikes and dancing shoes.
No. 30 Northwestern will be attending the Big Dance for the first time since 2002. The Wildcats finished second in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, automatically qualifying him for the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross-Country Championship on November 19 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Graduate student Rachel McCardell crossed the line in 20:22 over 6km to take eighth place, leading NU’s historic performance in all-region finishes.
“Honestly, it’s been the best moment for this team in the last four and a half years. Just the collective sigh and pride and joy that we all felt in that moment,” McCardell said. .
Four Cats made it into the top 25, earning the most all-regional certifications in the program’s history. Graduate student Ali Marks (20:29), senior Kalea Bartlot (20:31), and sophomore Ava Earl (20:44) finished 13th, 15th, and 25th respectively.
In his fourth season as head coach, Jill Miller led the program to a level of success not seen since the early 2000s. After he finished 13th in the 2019 Regionals, the Cats moved up his 11th spot to take him to 2nd place and beat his ticket to the NCAA Championship. To qualify for the Nationals, teams must place in the top two in their region or receive an open bid.
“There are people on the outside who think we were crazy three years ago because we wanted to turn this into a program that consistently qualified for national championships,” Miller said. rice field. “But my staff, and people including the athletes, have remained very steadfast toward that goal, even during very difficult times.”
The Cats, who started the season ranked No. 4 in the Midwest region, steadily moved up the rankings to No. 2 after winning last month’s Bradley Pink Classic. With this win, NU broke the national rankings for the first time in 20 years, taking 29th place.
The Cats then began a historic postseason with a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten Championship. This is his team’s best result since 1986. McCardell and Barttrot earned All-His Big Ten honors, where he finished seventh and he finished 11th respectively.
NU fell behind third-placed Oklahoma, 2022 Big 12 Champion. Bradley University trailed his third-place Cats by 11 points. NU outperformed Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, and Iowa as the best-performing Big He ten team.
The Cats will tackle the final leg of the postseason at next week’s NCAA Championship, battling alongside 30 of the nation’s top teams.
Miller said NU hasn’t given up so far.
“We don’t want to be a team that is content with qualifying,” Miller said. “We want to see what we can do to surprise and accomplish some teams in Stillwater next Saturday.”
Last season, McCardell qualified for the NCAA Championship individually and finished third in the regionals. This is her best result for a NU runner in recent years.
Ahead of Saturday’s competition, McCardell remembers when Miller took over the program and had a vision of the team making it to the NCAA Championship.
“For us, they were incomprehensible monumental goals,” says McCardell. “She[Miller]just planted the idea in our heads, and eventually we started to see progress, and we started believing it. So that’s all there is to it, and what’s actually happening is much bigger.”
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twitter: @katewalter03
Related story:
— Cross Country: Cats Set Sights on NCAA Midwest Regional Championship
— Cross-Country: No. 29 Northwestern finishes fifth in Big Ten Championships, best result since 1986
— Cross Country: Northwestern University Seeks to Make a Name in Big Ten Championship
