On the strength of a record-breaking season senior cross-country runner Courtney Oldenburg is No. 7 on the Northern Star’s list of the top 10 Huskie athletes for 2012-2013.

Oldenburg, a West Salem, Wis., native, broke two school records this fall. One was in the 5K at the NIU Open with a time of 18:07.81, which was good enough for a third-place finish individually in the event and helped the team earn a third-place finish at the NIU Open.

The other record-breaking performance of the 2012 season was in the 6K at the Bradley classic with her run of 21:29.00. Oldenburg had one event title to go along with her two record-breaking performances on the season, which came at the UIC Opener with her time of 11:24.90 on a two-mile course. She was the highest finishing NIU runner at every event this past fall and finished 20th in the MAC Championships.

Oldenburg said all her success in 2012 was not the thing she’ll remember most from this year.

“I was very happy that I was able to find the most success I have [ever] had in my last season of cross-country and track,” Oldenburg said. “However, the fact that our team culture became better was more important to me. For that reason, it made running and competing a lot easier and motivating because we all were running for each other.”