DeKALB — The NIU cross country team wrapped up their season by competing in the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday, finishing 28th out of 32 teams. 

Head coach Jaime Moreno spoke on the effort her team gave, even though they came into the final meet not at full strength. 

“We were a bit shorthanded today, but I feel the runners we did have compete today had their best races of the year,” Moreno said in a Friday NIU athletics news release. “Julia Finegan had a personal-best by over 20 seconds today and that’s really good. She’s been very steady for us all year long, as has Joy Jackson. It’s very hard to enter a meet when you’re not at full strength, but I thought they performed very well. We worked extremely hard all season and I was proud of their performance today.”

The first Huskie to cross the finish line was senior Sara Atkins placing 117th with a time of 22:32.16.  Sophomore Julie Finegan and redshirt-senior Victoria Robinson would be the next two Huskies to cross the finish line, finishing right next to each other. Finegan placed 137th, with a time of 22:48.65 and Robinson finished 138th, with a time of 22:52.91.

The final Huskies to cross the finish line was senior Hannah Ricci who placed 161st, with a time of 23:13.02 and freshman Joy Jackson who placed 176th, with a time of 23:31.19. 

The University of Minnesota finished first as a team, with a score of 45, followed by Oklahoma State University in second, with 75 points and Iowa State University third, with 81 points. Senior Cailie Logue of Iowa State finished first in the individual race with a time of 20:45.08.