DeKALB — Cross Country will participate Saturday in the highly anticipated Mid-American Conference Championships hosted by NIU at the North 40 Course in DeKalb. 

The Huskies have a chance to win the MAC Championships, led by juniors Ashley Tutt and Mackenzie Callahan and senior Ericka Hibser. 

“It has been an accumulation of all the performances that go to show that we are a much more well-rounded program than we were in the past,” Head Coach Adrian Myers said.

For the past three years, the Huskies have had three top-4 performances in the conference race with a finish in second place in 2016. This year though, the Huskies look to win their first MAC Conference Championship in school history. 

“Expectations have been the same as it has been for the last three years,” Myers said. “We are here to win (the MAC).”

Last year Eastern Michigan University won the championships, which were hosted by the University of Toledo, where the Huskies took fourth place out of twelve teams. Since this year NIU hosts the race, on paper it gives the Huskies a home field advantage.

“Being the host school, there is a distinct advantage in regards to confidence so it’s a huge advantage,” Myers said.

The Huskies were ranked fourth in the preseason polls this season with many other teams doubting their ability to win the MAC.

“We know that they are not going to respect us and this is an opportunity for us to show that they should,” Myers said.

The race will be on the North 40 Course on Lucinda Avenue behind the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology and Barsema Hall.

The men’s 8k race is set to start at 11 a.m. with the woman’s 6k race following at noon. 

Miami University – Ohio took won the men ‘s race in the 2018 championships. The RedHawks had four runners in the top-10 including seniors Sean Torpy and Christopher Torpy. The Illinoi- natives are set to be joined by junior Josh Park, who was the individual winner of the championships.