Almost every athletic team comes into the season with a goal.

For the NIU Cross Country team, it’s “success is one team, one goal.”

Every step, road and track brings this team one step closer to success,” said coach Shantel Twiggs.

In her third year as head coach, Twiggs wants to take the Huskies to the next level.

“We have developed excellent chemistry,” Twiggs said. “We have gelled quickly, gained a tremendous amount of experience and are very enthusiastic.

“Last year left a bad taste in our mouths. We’ve been training real hard over the summer and are looking forward to a good season.”

The Huskies opened the season on Friday with a 23-36 loss to Eastern Illinois in the Huskie Invitational.

Alicia Czajka, Laura Dunn, Michelle Rhoden, Renee Kleckner and Christina Nieto look to lead the team to victory this season.

“Christina will be an immediate impact player,” said Twiggs. “The sky is the limit for her. She’s healthy, strong and very eager to get back to running after missing out on her senior season last year.”

Kleckner earned MAC All-Academic honors last year and is the lone senior on this year’s team.

Czajka has spent the majority of the last nine months recovering from a stress fracture. However, Twiggs believes Czajka will be a leader and force for the team.

“I have been running, but my performance may be a bit weaker than last year,” said Czajka. “We’re very strong and have a very deep team.”

Ask Twiggs who has made the steadiest improvement over the last few years, and Dunn’s name immediately comes to mind.

Dunn was NIU’s top finisher at the MAC championships last year as a sophomore.

“Laura is establishing herself as a leader and should be very impressive this year,” Twiggs remarked.

Three sophomores, Jen Braser, Kim Brokhof and Bonnie Miller, all had strong seasons as freshmen and fill out the rest of the roster.

Though it may not seem the Huskies play some of the big name schools in the country, don’t be mistaken about the level of competition they will face throughout the season.

The conference had three All-Americans last year, including one of the nation’s top five runners in Toledo’s Briana Shook. Toledo was also picked as the favorite to win the MAC this season.

“No matter what, we will see some major competition at the invitationals throughout the season against teams like Notre Dame and the other teams in our conference,” said Twiggs. “Our conference is very strong and provides for excellent competition.”

Despite returning seven players, the Huskies were picked to finish last in the MAC when the preseason polls came out

Twiggs’ response to that: “They haven’t seen anything yet.”