Oct. 14, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's cross country team will compete at the Pre-National Invitational Saturday, Oct. 15 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. hosted by Indiana State University. The meet features more then 75 teams running two equal heats.

The event, which is taking place at the same site as this year's NCAA Championships, is the final preparation for the Wildcats before heading to the Big Ten Championships in two weeks.

Head coach Amy Tush is anxious to see how her team competes against some of the top programs in the country. BYU, Notre Dame and Stanford, all top 10 teams, are just a few of the top programs the Wildcats will be up against. Northwestern will be looking to improve on its 35th place showing last season.

"This meet features some of the best teams in the country," Tush said. "I'm hoping we can pack together as a group and pull each other up to the front. In prior meets we've made mistakes starting out too slow and put ourselves in the wrong groups. This weekend we're really going to concentrate on getting out, pulling together and running strong."

Other members of the team will be competing at the 5K Forester Invitational in Vernon Hills, Ill. where NU has won the event four out of the last five years.

Last Time Out:
Northwestern placed 10th at the Sean Earl Invitational Oct. 1. Freshman Hilary Forman (Prairie Village, Kan./Pembroke) was the highest place finisher for the Wildcats, finishing 43rd with a time of 18:41. Sophomore Celia Franklin (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) finished second among Northwestern runners (57th overall) with a time of 18:52. She was followed closely by Allison King (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) who was 63rd overall with a final time of 18:56.

Next Up:
The Wildcats will have a couple weeks to rest up before heading to the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. Oct. 30.

Pre-National Varsity Heat Runners:
Carly Brown
Hilary Forman
Celia Franklin
Marie Grabinski
Allison King
Mallory O'Niel
Megan Young

Pre-National Open Heat Runners:
Jessica Anderson
Robin Johnson
Ashley Roberts
Alyssa Urish
Triphena Wong

Forester Invitational Runners:
Natalie Bond
Lauren Cousert
Julia Fraser
Marcellee Fullwood
Erika Hollner
Lisa Marx
Michelle Sandler