LANSING, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team took part in the NCAA DIII Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday morning (Oct. 1) at the Forest Akers Golf Course. The Hornets finished 20th with 573 points.
In a field of all NCAA DIII opponents, the top five teams in the race were Chicago (59 points), MIT (106 points), Wisconsin-La Crosse (118 points), George Fox (137 points), and Calvin (201 points). Among the Great Lakes Region teams, Kalamazoo finished as the ninth-best team in a stacked region. The Hornets were also the third fastest MIAA team at the meet, with Calvin (fifth) and Trine (10th) finishing in front of them. Hope (24th), Albion (26th), Saint Mary's (29th), Alma (33rd), Adrian (35th), and Olivet (36th) all trailed Kalamazoo.
Pacing the Hornets was Paige Anderson, who finished 34th overall with a 23:01, a career-best by 21 seconds. Anderson finished ahead of many NCAA DIII Championship qualifiers from last season. Alison Hankins also posted a top-100 finish with a time of 23:50, good for 82nd. That was also the fastest timed 6k at the collegiate level by 10 seconds.
Anna Varitek was the next Hornet to cross the finish line in 103rd at 24:08. Coming in at 25:21 was Maddie Hanulcik, and then round out the scoring for Kalamazoo was Grace McGlynn with a time of 25:56. McGlynn also had a career-best time by nearly 10 seconds.
Elise Elliot and Annalise Bailey were the remaining two runners in the varsity race. Elliot crossed the line at 26:23, and Bailey came in at 26:39. Elliot beat her personal best by 14 seconds.
"We established ourselves as a strong opponent among MIAA teams," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "I was also pleased that we represented ourselves well in the Great Lakes Region. We had many season and career bests, and I am proud of how the team ran today."
Kalamazoo will be back in action at the Augustana College Invite on Saturday (Oct. 15), beginning at 11:30 a.m. in Rock Island, Ill.