LANSING, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's cross country team competed in the MSU Spartan Invite on Friday morning at the Forest Akers Golf Course. The Hornets finished in 17th with 571 points.

In a field filled with NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, and NAIA opponents, the Hornets had good times, with many improvements from last week and 10 different runners participating.

The newcomer duo of Will Thomas and Noah Eckenroth were the first two to cross the finish line for the Hornets. Thomas ran over a minute faster 8k race than last week at 27:49, while Eckenroth finished with a 28:41 time.

This week, Garrick Hohm and Kyle Ackerson teamed up again, who only had a second difference between their times. Hohm improved by 17 seconds from last week at 29:40, and Ackerson shaved 10 seconds off the previous time at 29:41.

Rounding out the top seven Kalamazoo runners were Patrick Dunfee, Caleb Ewald, and Levi Thomas. Dunfee came across at 31:03, Ewald improved on last week by nearly three minutes at 31:48, and Thomas finished with a 32:17 time.

Also running for the Hornets were Chelsea Bossert (34:39), Ilem Leisher (35:38), and Keegan Reynolds, who was unable to finish the race.

"We jumped in the deep end today, and I am very proud of our perseverance," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "We went up against some tough competition and hot temperatures. The word of the day was progress, and I think we accomplished that."

Kalamazoo will be back in action at the NCAA DIII Pre-Nationals race on Saturday (Oct. 1), beginning at 11:15 a.m. back at the Forest Akers Golf Course.