Paige Anderson of the Kalamazoo College women's cross country team was named the SAAC Women's Hornet of the Week on Wednesday (Nov. 16).
The Hornets had an excellent performance in their last race of the season at the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional. Kalamazoo finished 13th out of 34 teams in the cold and snowing conditions. In addition, five runners had lifetime best times despite the miserable weather.
Anderson capped off her outstanding sophomore season with a 22nd-place finish overall at the meet with 248 runners. Her time of 22:08 was three seconds off her career-best, which was established at the MIAA Championships two weeks earlier. That finish landed Anderson All-Region honors, which are awarded to the top 35 runners in each region. This season, Anderson finished outside the top 50 in a race only once and set her lifetime best time in three straight races. She was also on the All-MIAA First Team after her seventh-place finish at the MIAA Championships.
Anderson has made tremendous strides compared to her first season in collegiate races last year. Her previous career-best time before 2022 was 23:22, and it has improved by over a minute to 22:05. She also jumped from 22nd to seventh at the MIAA Championships and from 52nd to 22nd at the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional.
Kalamazoo could bring back all but one from this year's roster in 2023, with Anna Varitek being the lone senior.
2022-23 Women's Hornets of the Week
Paige Anderson, Cross Country
Camille Misra, Swimming
Paige Anderson, Cross Country
Lexi Nesbitt, Soccer
Jana Molby, Volleyball
Camille Misra, Swimming
Paige Anderson, Cross Country
Halley Johnson, Volleyball
Destiny Garcia, Soccer
Ellie Andrews, Soccer
Sydney Pickell, Golf