DeKALB — Junior Ashley Tutt claimed 17th place Saturday when the cross country team competed in the Under Armour Pre Nationals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Huskies placed 27th overall, the highest of all Mid-American Conference teams participating. 

Tutt ran a time of 20:34.2 on the six-kilometer course, and was seven seconds outside the top-10 competitors.

Erica Birk-Jarvis, senior from Brigham Young University, won the individual title with a time of 20:02.6. 

The University of Washington won the team title with four runners in the top-25.

Junior Mackenzie Callahan was the second Huskie to cross the finish line, posting a time of 21:20.1. Callahan finished 84th overall.

Senior Ericka Hibser was NIU’s third finisher, posting a time of 22:03.6 to end in the top 200. Senior Vivian Overbeck also placed within the top 200, six seconds behind Hibser who ran a time of 22:09.8.

The Huskies final team score of 664 was just one point behind Loyola-Chicago, but won against the other MAC teams in the conference. Toledo placed 31st with a score of 745, Eastern Michigan placing 33rd with a score of 823 and Miami placing 35th with a total score of 833. NIU won against top-10 ranked in their conferences, Georgia and Virginia.

Next for the cross country team is the MAC Championship, on Nov. 2 on the North 40 Course on campus in DeKalb.