ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team ran at the Augustana College Invite on Saturday morning (Oct. 15) at the Saukie Golf Course. The Hornets finished 16th out of 25 teams with 487 points.
The top five teams at the race included Chicago (54 points), Wartburg (57), Washington (97), Pomona-Pitzer (159), and UW-Eau Claire (167). The race was loaded with talent, with 11 of the top 35 teams in the country being at the race. There were also three teams in the top 10 of the Great Lakes Region in Calvin, Hope, and DePauw. Kalamazoo was only two spots back of DePauw as Hope finished 10th and Calvin came in 8th.
Grabbing a top-50 finish and leading the Hornets was Paige Anderson, who ran a 22:36. Just two weeks after setting a personal best, Anderson broke it by 25 seconds. Running with each other were Alison Hankins and Anna Varitek for Kalamazoo, finishing in the second and third spots on the team. Hankins ran a 23:20, which also beat her personal best from two weeks ago by 30 seconds. Varitek came in at 23:24, a season-best time by 35 seconds.
Maddie Hanulcik and Grace McGlynn finished together as Hanulcik ran a 24:39 and McGlynn ran a 24:40. This was the fastest McGlynn has run in her two years by a minute and 16 seconds. Rounding out the top five for the Hornets was Annalise Bailey at 25:04, which was her personal best by 29 seconds.
Five other first-years ran for Kalamazoo and ran their fastest race this season. Elise Elliot finished at 25:11, her best time by a minute and 12 seconds. Maya Alkema improved her season best by a minute and 16 seconds with a 25:38 finish. Zenaida Sackett ran 26:23, running her fastest time by two minutes and 22 seconds. Annaliese Bol finished at 26:40, three seconds better than her best time. Finally, Hayley VanWagoner improved her time by two minutes and 16 seconds at 28:38.
"The team ran a great race today, with every runner setting a personal-best time," said Assistant Coach Laura Edwardson Lam. "We ran strong and worked together as a team to accomplish our goal of getting better. Our hard work is paying off heading into the MIAA Championships in a couple of weeks."
The Hornets' next meet will be the MIAA Championships on Friday (Oct. 29). The race will take place at Shepard High School, beginning at 11 a.m.