LANSING, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team competed in the MSU Spartan Invite on Friday morning at the Forest Akers Golf Course. The Hornets finished 17th with 473 points.

In a field filled with NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, and NAIA opponents, the Hornets had eight different runners participate and put up solid times.

Paige Anderson finished within the top 100 runners in 87th place, crossing the finish line at 23:36. Not far behind was Anna Varitek, who had a time of 24:32 to create a solid top-two combination.

The duo of Alison Hankins and Maddie Hanulcik kept with each other for most of the race. Hankins crossed the line at 25:03, while the newcomer in Hanulcik had a 25:25 time.

The remaining four, Annalise Bailey, Elise Elliot, Maya Alkema, and Grace McGlynn, paced each other, staying relatively close together. Bailey (26:59) and Elliot (27:07) were within 10 seconds of each other, while Alkema had a 27:33 and McGlynn finished at 28:28.

"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 10:30 a.m. back at the Forest Akers Golf Course.