DeKALB — Cool and wet conditions didn’t stop the cross country team from clinching first place at the University Maroon Women’s Meet Saturday in the Loyola University – Chicago 42nd Annual Lakefront Invitational at Montrose Harbor in Chicago. The Huskies edged out Loyola, and the University of Wisconsin rounded out the top three finishers.

This marks the third first place finish for the Huskies this season. NIU took first Aug. 30 at the Western Illinois University Early Bird meet and Sept. 6 at the Huskie Challenge.

The Huskies had three runners place in the top-10 of the invitational, as junior Ashley Tutt placed first with a finishing time of 17:26.76. Junior Mackenzie Callahan placed fifth with a time of 17:47.38 and redshirt senior Ericka Hibser placed ninth with 18:18.05.

The team will compete again 4 p.m Oct. 18 at the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria. NIU placed 10th in last year’s classic. The Huskies’ best performance at the Pink Classic came in 2016 when the team placed second. NIU fell just short of the top spot, finishing with a 0.17.4 average higher than first-place University of Colorado. Huskie senior Vivian Overbeck and Hibser were part of the second-place team.