For senior Courtney Oldenburg, breaking records comes naturally.

Oldenburg has been breaking records in cross country since her days in high school at West Salem High School in West Salem, Wisc. She holds records in the 4×400 meter relay, 4×800 meter relay, 800-meter run, 1600-meter run, 3200-meter run.

In September, Oldenburg broke NIU’s old 5K record when she took third place ath the NIU open with a time of 18:01.81, which was set in 1978 by Colleen Buck.

During her sophomore season, Oldenburg broke NIU’s 6K record, which was set by Sunsea Shaw in 2007.

Oldenburg broke the 6K record again this season,

Oldenburg now sits atop the 5K and the 6K lists in NIU history.

Oldenburg said she has been doing everything she can to go out on top since this is her last year at NIU.

On top of the records she holds, Oldenburg has finished in first place for the Huskies in every regular season race since she got here in 2009.

“Every year I give it all my best, but knowing it is my senior year, I want to make it my best,” Oldenburg said. “Knowing it is my senior year, I want to make it memorable. With having so many people on the team and everyone being competitive makes me that much more motivated to do better.”

Coach Greg Hipp said Oldenburg has been the best runner for NIU ever since her arrival.

“Courtney has been the catalyst for the building of the program,” Hipp said. “She has been the No. 1 girl all four years on the team and that is a very difficult thing to have to put on someone’s shoulders. In the last year, she has developed into the runner that she is capable of being.”

Despite holding the 5K and 6K, Oldenburg believes that her records won’t be there for long because her teammates are talented.

“I know they will break my records soon,” Oldenburg said. “Just this year in general we have [had] girls come in and do well which has opened eyes for some of the older girls on the roster.”

Having someone on the team who is breaking records gives the other runners confidence to break Oldenburg’s records, Hipp said.

“This should give her teammate’s confidence they can run really well,” Hipp said. “There are probably some girls on the team that have their eye set on beating her records over the next year or two.

“She certainly set an example for the girls on the team. There are some girls on the team that want to leave with their name on the record books just like Courtney is doing.”