Freshman Amelie Ojeda earned a top-40 finish as all five Huskies recorded personal bests on Friday at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria.
Ojeda has been the highest placing Huskie in each of NIU’s invitationals this season.
Ojeda ran a personal best as a collegiate athlete with a time of 21:25.38 in the 6k for a 36th place finish. Ojeda’s time was 52 seconds better than her previous best 6k.
As a team, the Huskies finished in 23rd place in a field of 24 teams with 595 points. The Huskies finished ahead of Chicago State University, who scored 783 points as a team.
Western Illinois University finished just ahead of the Huskies in the final standings, sitting in 22nd place with 590 points.
The hosting school, Bradley University, were the champions of the invitational, totaling a final team score of 32. The Braves top five finishers all crossed the finish line in the top-15 individual athletes.
Freshman Ariel Hernandez was the second Huskie to cross the finish line, coming in 148th place. Hernandez’s 6k time of 23:09.49 was a new personal best at the collegiate level by almost two minutes.
Coming in 160th place, freshman Claire Helmila was the third Huskie to finish, ending with a time of 23:24.59. Helmila’s time on Friday was a new personal best at the collegiate level by 27 seconds.
Sophomore Varri Higgins finished in 182nd place for the Huskies with a time of 23:48.7. Higgins’s time on Friday was 41 seconds faster than her previous best collegiate 6k time.
Freshman Liliana Camargo was the last Huskie to cross the finish line on Friday, coming in at 184th place with a time of 23:52.06. Camargo’s time was 68 seconds faster than her previous best at the Gans Creek Classic in September.
“It was the best performance of the year for us,” said NIU head coach Juan Carrillo. “We only had five athletes on the line, and all five of them ran personal bests, so it was a good day for us building momentum toward the MAC Championship.”
The Huskies’ next invitational is the MAC Championship at 11 a.m. C.T. on Nov. 1 in Amherst, New York.
