NIU cross country prepares for its final meet of the season at the Mid-American Conference Championships in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday.
Graduate students Camille Jackson and Bailey Wilk have been two of the Huskies’ frontrunners for a majority of the season.
Both athletes transferred to NIU’s program this past offseason, with Jackson transferring from the University of New Mexico and Wilk transferring from the University of St. Francis.
Jackson was the top finisher for the Huskies at the Redbird Invite on Sept. 13, where she finished in 26th place.
Wilk has been the top finisher for the Huskies in three out of four of their invitationals this fall, with her best finish being an eighth place finish at the NIU Huskie Opener on Sept. 6.
“She’s (Wilk) been a frontrunner all season pretty much, and that’s the expectation for her,” NIU cross country head coach Juan Carrillo said. “She’s been putting in some great workouts the past month. So I think all the training she’s done is going to take effect this weekend.”
The Huskies have also gotten production and seen growth from some of their underclassmen runners, such as sophomore Morgan Gioia and freshman Rachel Dietrich.
Gioia came into this season with her personal best in the 6k at 25:09.6, which she set last September at the Mel Brodt Collegiate Cross Country Invitational.
This season, Gioia beat her previous best 6k time twice, the first being at the Redbird Invitational where she ran a 24:55.4.Her most recent personal best was at the Huskies’ most recent invitational, the Bradley Pink Classic, where she ran a 24:27.9 for the 6k.
Dietrich was one of the Huskies’ most consistent runners during the fall season as a freshman. Her best finish of the season came at the Huskie Opener when she finished in 15th place and was the second best finisher for NIU.
Dietrich also beat her personal best in the 6k by over a minute in her final race of the season, improving from 25:41.1 to 24:11.1.
“Morgan struggled a little bit early in the season, and then the last race at Bradley, she ran 30 seconds faster for the 6k,” Carrillo said. “I think she’s coming out of our last race with a little more confidence. And then freshman Rachel Dietrich was our second runner at Bradley. So I think some of the younger girls are going to have their best race of the season this weekend.”
Senior Emma Vorpagel is one of two seniors on the roster to have spent all four years running at NIU.
This season, Vorpagel consistently finished in the middle of the pack for the Huskies. Her best time of the season came at the NIU Huskie Opener, finishing in at 20:49.8 for the 5k and placing 26th overall.
Vorpagel, like Dietrich, is mainly an 800m runner during track season, and uses the cross country season to help build a basis for the track season.
“The training definitely differs a little from cross country to track,” Vorpagel said. “In cross country we’re really kind of just building a base for track. So we’re running more miles so that when we are running the 6k it’s not a complete shock to our system.”
NIU cross country will compete at the MAC Championships, hosted by Ball State University, on Saturday in Muncie, Indiana. Live stats will be available through MileSplit.
