Balance and depth are key for winning team sports, especially cross country.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, Eastern Illinois had too much depth to overcome as it defeated NIU 23-36 to capture the Huskie Invitational.

Despite not producing the first place runner, which went to Stephanie Bone of Eastern Illinois with a time of 15:09, the Huskies placed well at the top. NIU captured second place with Laura Dunn. Dunn completed the 2.5 mile run in 15:21.

“Laura Dunn and Michelle Rhoden really stepped it up and had some big performances,” NIU coach Shantel Twiggs said.

Fellow Huskie Michelle Rhoden finished just behind Dunn in third with a time of 15:25.

“I think I did alright,” Rhoden said. “I think I went out too fast though, but I know I had a real good kick at the end.”

After Dunn and Rhoden, the next four finishers were all members of EIU, giving the Panthers a large lead and propelled them to the victory.

The next NIU finisher came in eighth as Renee Kleckner completed the run with a time of 15:58.

“This is going to push them all forward. It shows them that they have a lot of room for improvement,” Twiggs said, “All they need to do is buckle down, get their mileage in and make it quality miles … The season is really up to us and how we end it.”