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The Stride Report has learned that Northwestern University will begin sponsoring women's indoor and outdoor track starting in 2026. TSR has confirmed the news with Northwestern Head Coach Jill Miller.
The Wildcats do not have a men's cross country, indoor track or outdoor track team.
Despite being able to attend regular season races, Northwestern did not previously meet the necessary criteria to compete on championship stages during the indoor track or outdoor track seasons. That, however, will be changing this time next year.
Although the Wildcats will have officially sponsored track teams for the winter and spring months, their roster is expected to consist entirely of distance runners. Athletes in the sprint and field events will not be recruiting targets for the Evanston, Illinois-based program.
Since joining Northwestern in the summer of 2019, Coach Jill Miller has shaped the Wildcats' distance program into a nationally competitive group on the grass. In the fall of 2022, Miller led the Wildcats to their first appearance at the NCAA XC Championships since 1985. Northwestern has also finished among the top-three at the Midwest Regional XC Championships for the last three years.
Despite not having track teams that could compete for BIG 10 or NCAA titles, Coach Jill Miller found ways to keep the Wildcats relevant on the grass. But now, with Northwestern being able to compete in championship meets across all three seasons, recruiting may (in theory) become slightly easier for the Wildcats moving forward.
That, in turn, will likely make the ultra-loaded BIG 10 even more competitive in the distance events over the long-term.