About a month ago, junior Skye Ellis set a new Northwestern program record for the 1,500-meter run at the Spartan Invitational. On Friday, she broke that record, finishing in 4:19.71 at the Badger Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin, marking a four second improvement on her previous time.
Ellis’ program record netted her a third place finish. Senior Anna Hightower joined her teammate in the top five, finishing fourth overall, as she ran a personal best of 4:27.87 in the 1,500-meter.
The Badger Challenge bookended the Wildcats’ 2025 outdoor season, and NU finished on a high note. The ’Cats took first, second and third place in the 5,000-meter run. Senior Ava Earl finished first with a time of 15:55.12, graduate student Holly Smith placed second and clocked a 16:01.44 and sophomore Jackie Holman notched third with a 16:09.15 outing.
Three Wildcats ran personal bests in the 5,000-meter. Junior Mia Mraz, who finished seventh overall, ran a 16:51.04, more than an eight-second improvement on her previous personal record. Sophomore Kailey Zagst improved almost 34 seconds, finishing ninth overall with a 17:22.93. Senior Audrey Bannister saw a 14-second improvement, finishing 11th overall with a time of 18:02.34.
The Badger Challenge closed out NU cross country’s 2024-2025 season. The team will return to action in the fall.
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Related Stories:
— Cross Country: Ellis, Hightower clock top-20 finishes at the Penn Relays
— Cross Country: Ellis breaks second program record, takes first place at Spartan Invitational
— Cross Country: Ellis cracks NU 5,000-meter top-10 leaderboard at Raleigh Relays
