SHEPARD, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team competed in the MIAA Championships on Saturday morning (Oct. 29) at Shepard High School. The Hornets finished fourth for the second consecutive season, totaling 122 points as the top seven runners posted a career-best time.
Hope (39 points), Calvin (50 points), and Trine (52 points) finished ahead of Kalamazoo in the race. Albion (131 points), Saint Mary's (172 points), Alma (209 points), Adrian (228 points), and Olivet (251 points) round out the fifth through ninth spots.
Finishing in seventh place overall and earning All-MIAA First Team honors was Paige Anderson, finishing with a time of 22:05. This time was Anderson's career-best by 31 seconds, and she is the first Hornet to earn first team honors since Lauren Arquette did in 2015. Alison Hankins and Anna Varitek kept pace with each other, grabbing 20th and 23rd finishes, respectively. Hankins' time of 23:06 beat her personal best by 14 seconds, while Varitek eclipsed her best time by eight seconds.
Without Maddie Hanulcik being up in the pack due to an injury in the race as the Hornets' usual fourth-best runner, Grace McGlynn and Annalise Bailey stepped up in a big way to be the fourth and fifth fastest runners for Kalamazoo. McGlynn crossed the finish line in 33rd with a time of 24:05, 35 seconds faster than her career best. Bailey was not far behind in 39th at 24:43, 21 seconds better than her fastest time.
Two first-year runners, Elise Elliot and Annaliese Bol, came up big to secure the fourth-place finish. Elliot's time of 24:48 was a 23-second improvement from her fastest time this season. Bol crossed the finish line 40 seconds quicker than her previous best this season at 26:00.
Kalamazoo had four more runners in the race in Maya Alkema, Zenaida Sackett, Hayley VanWagoner, and Hanulcik. Alkema ran a 26:04, Sackett had a time of 26:45, VanWagoner finished in 27:40, and Hanulcik came in at 29:26. VanWagoner also had a personal best by 58 seconds.
"We had lifetime best races nearly across the board today," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "Grace, Annalise, and Elise stepped up huge as the fourth, fifth, and sixth runners to ensure we held on to fourth place in the conference. I am very proud of the resilience and strength of our team to show up and compete against three of the top teams in the country."
The Hornets will now turn their attention to the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional meet. The race will take place in two weeks on Nov. 12 at the West Ottawa Golf Course in Holland, Mich., beginning at 11 a.m.