Northwest cross country will open its season on Friday with the Badger Classic in Madison and the Huskie Challenge in Northern Illinois. Hopes are high for this team, which is currently ranked No. 2 in the Midwest Region’s preseason rankings. As the new 2024-25 season begins, we’ll take a look at how the Cats are shaping up.
Squad preview
Returnees: Ava Earl (Sr.), Audrey Bannister (So.), Erin Boler (So.), Deepti Choudhury (Sr.), Ava Crinti (So.), Whitney Currie (Sr.), Anna Delgado (So.), Skye Ellis (Jr.), Serena Frolli (Jr.), Mallory Grubb (Jr.), Katherine Hessler (Gr.), Anna Hightower (Sr.), Jackie Holman (So.), Fiona Lenth (Sr.), Mia Mraz (Jr.), Maddy Powers (So.), Lydia Sommer (So.), Maddy Whitman (Jr.), Kailey Zagst (So.)
Losses: Addy Vettel, Rachel Sessa, Pippa Nuttall, Maggie Mason, Adele Magaud, Abbie Draheim, Emily Casaclang, Ella Behrens, Kalea Bartolotto,
Additions: Holly Smith (Gr.-Transfer, Iona), Chloe Wellings (Gr.-Transfer, Radford), Cary Drake (Fr.), Katherine Klimek (Fr.), Bentley Thomas (Fr.)
Northwestern returns much of its 2023-24 roster this season, including a deep class of sophomore runners with great future potential. Many have already found success in their first year in Evanston, not only in the cross country season, but also indoors and outdoors.
Anna Delgado won the Flyers Flames Challenge in her cross country collegiate debut last season with a 4K time of 14:21.9. Fellow sophomore Ava Crinti finished second in that race and Erin Boler finished fifth. Jackie Holman and Maddie Powers also showed promise later in the year during the indoor and outdoor track seasons as they settled into their running careers at Northwestern University.
Outside of the sophomore class, Northwestern also has some very fast seniors. Junior Maddy Whitman finished third for the Flyers Flames and later in the season set personal bests in the 5K and 6K (17:33.4 and 21:32.9, respectively). Senior Fiona Lenth also set personal bests in those two races (17:84.4 and 20:41.35, respectively) and finished 41st at the Big Ten Championships.
However, the two most decorated returning runners on this squad are senior Ava Earl and graduate student Katherine Hessler. Earl is a two-time USTFCCCA Midwest All-Region runner who qualified for the 2023 National Championships for the ‘Cats. She finished 64th, the second-best finish at the NCAA Championships in Wildcat history, and earned a spot on the Big Ten Preseason Runners to Watch List for 2024.
Now a sophomore, Hessler is wrapping up her amazing career in purple. She was also a member of the USTFCCCA Midwest All-Region and a First-Team All-Big Ten runner in 2023. Last season, she competed in five cross country events and finished no worse than 45th at a crowded Virginia Invitational. Outside of that race, she finished no worse than 16th, including a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Northwestern also welcomes two graduates to its ranks: Holly Smith of Iona and Chloe Wellings of Radford. Both had successful careers in their previous programs.
Schedule preview
Both the Badger Classic and the Huskie Challenge are next Friday, and Northwestern will send runners to both events that evening. Then the ‘Cats are back in action on Sept. 13 at the Big Ten Preview Event in Champaign, IL, an early test for the team to see how they stack up against the conference.
After a two-week break, Northwestern returns to Madison on September 27 for the Nuttycombe Invitational. This meet is an early one, scheduled to start at 11 a.m. The following week is the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, which is more or less a home game for the ‘Cats. After another two-week break, Northwestern finishes its regular season at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, IL.
The Big Ten Championships will take place on November 1st, followed by the Midwest Regionals on November 15th and finally the NCAA Championships on November 23rd.
