DeKalb senior Danielle Dlabal was on the fence a couple weeks ago about continuing her running career in college. But after seeing the Northern Illinois cross country team running together through a rain storm recently, Dlabal decided to give it a go.

On Wednesday, Dlabal sent her national letter of intent to NIU and will join the Huskies’ cross country and track programs as a freshman walk-on next year.

“The team, they just seem like a family,” Dlabal said. “I just liked that whole aspect of being together as a team and having to go through the same things.”