HOLLAND, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team competed at the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional on Saturday morning (Nov. 12) at the Three Fires Golf Club. Out of 34 teams, the Hornets finished in 13th place with 335 points.
John Carroll took the top spot in the regional with 81 points. Calvin (106 points), Hope (127 points), Mount Union (147 points), and Ohio Northern (158 points) round out the top five teams. Kalamazoo finished fourth out of the MIAA teams as Trine (195 points) also finished ahead of the Hornets in sixth.
Paige Anderson has been the top runner for Kalamazoo all season, and today was no different. She grabbed a top-25 finish in 22nd with a time of 22:08, three seconds off her personal best. With that finish, Anderson earned All-Region honors. Alison Hankins came out with a 44th-place finish with a new career-best time. She ran a 22:39 race, 27 seconds quicker than her previous best. Anna Varitek was the third Hornet to run a sub-23 minute race, finishing in 22:51. With a 60th-place finish, Varitek ended her Kalamazoo tenure on a high note by being 27 seconds faster than her previous career-best.
In the fourth spot on the team was Grace McGlynn, running a time of 23:43. McGlynn got a personal best by 29 seconds today. Rounding out the top five was Annalise Bailey after crossing the line at 24:17. She also topped her career-best mark by 26 seconds.
Elise Elliot and Maddie Hanulcik were the final two runners for Kalamazoo. Elliot picked up a 21-second personal best after finishing the race in 24:27. Hanulcik crossed the finish line with a time of 25:16.
"The women ran incredibly today, and we could not have asked for more from them," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "As a group, five of the seven ran lifetime bests by an average of 25 seconds. The conditions were by far the work we have seen all season. A big highlight was Paige placing 22nd and earning All-Region honors. In any given year, her time would have qualified her for nationals, but the Great Lakes Region might be the toughest in the country this season. As a team, we have improved from 26th in 2019, to not racing in 2020, finishing 16th last season, and coming in 13th this season at regionals. I know we are creating something special, and Anna, a senior this season, has been instrumental in leading this team. Hats off to her on a wonderful career here at K."
Kalamazoo wraps up its season after taking fourth in the MIAA Championships and finishing 13th in the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional.