Oct. 11, 2007

EVANSTON,Ill.-- Following a week off, Northwestern prepares for the Bradley Classic, its sixth and final meet of the cross country season this Saturday at the 6k Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill.

The 17-team field includes local competition for NU as DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, Western Illinois, Illinois State, Bradley and the defending champions from SIU-Carbondale all will run in the race.

Two weeks ago, NU participated in the adidas Invitational, where the team ran to a sixth-place finish in the Gold Division race. Junior co-captain Carly Brown (Kalispell, Mont./Flathead) stormed ahead of the field finishing 11th overall with a time of 18:12. Right behind Brown for the third time in their four races, fellow co-captain Celia Franklin (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) ran the course in 18:32, earning a 28th-place finish overall.

On Nov. 10, the 'Cats return to the course for the NCAA Regionals.

"While this meet gives us a preview of the course we will be running for regionals, it also gives us the opportunity to compete against several other ranked regional teams," coach April Likhite said. "We are excited not only about our first 6K race of the season, but also looking forward to having Allison King back for her first race this year."