Courtney Oldenburg
Despite a strong showing by their top three runners, the NIU cross country team dropped all seven of the duals Saturday as it kicked off the 2011 season at the UIC Opener.
“I knew what we were up against,” Huskie head coach Greg Hipp said. “We have a long way to go to be a competitive team and we’ll have to see how we react with this next week of practice. ”
Junior Courtney Oldenburg produced a strong showing on the two-mile Horse Trail Lake, finishing first among the Huskie runners with a time of 11:48.90. The West Salem, Wis., native finished 12th overall.
Following Oldenburg were Claire McAuley and freshman Jamie Burr. The pair finished 25th and 26th with times of 12:15.10 and 12:15.90, respectively.
Fourth among the Huskies was Alexis Capps in 37th place with a clip of 12:52.40, Kelsi Frank took 38th at 12:54.00. Rounding out the pack was Kathryn Downin in 58th with a time of 13:48.70.
There is much room for improvement, Hipp said.
“We needed to race a little more aggressively,” he said. “We got off the line a little too comfortable today and we needed to show some more urgency.”
The Huskies will return to action Saturday, Sept. 10, when they host the NIU Open. The women’s 5K race on the NIU North 40 will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the men’s 8K at 10:40 a.m.
For more information on NIU cross country and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
