On Saturday, NIU cross country traveled to Amherst, New York for the Mid-American Conference Championships, finishing in 13th place.
The Huskies finished in last place in the field of 13 teams with 338 total points, finishing 13 points behind Kent State University.
The University of Toledo were the champions of the invitational, totaling 32 points and finishing 30 points ahead of second place Ohio University.
Toledo junior Karina James was the top individual finisher in the MAC with a time of 20:28.8.
Coming in 33rd place with a 21:46.3, freshman Amelie Ojeda was the first athlete to cross the finish line for NIU. Ojeda was the first Huskie to cross the finish line in all five invitationals that NIU competed in this fall.
Freshman Ariel Hernandez was the next Huskie across the finish line, coming in 84th place with a time of 23:06.8.
Hernandez’s time of 23:06.8 was a personal record for the 6k by three seconds, surpassing her previous best at the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 17.
Also breaking a personal best set at Bradley, freshman Claire Helmila ran a 23:21.1 to come in 90th place for the Huskies.
Freshman Liliana Camargo finished in 98th place as the fourth athlete to cross the finish line for NIU. Camargo’s final time for the 6k was 23:54.2, missing out on a personal best by two seconds.
The last Huskie to finish at the invitational was sophomore Varri Higgins, coming in 99th place in the field of 109 individual athletes. Higgins’ time for the race was 24:03.1.
“Nothing happens overnight in this sport,” head coach Juan Carrillo said. “It is a year of development, for next year, they are going to be the leaders of the team. We have got to get healthy this week before regionals. They are running faster than what they did in high school through the three miles, five-kilometer mark, that’s a huge positive. As long as they know they are getting better, we will take that.”
The Huskies’ next invitational will be on Nov. 14 at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
