The 2023 Kalamazoo College women's cross country team has arrived on campus and begun pre-season workouts, with the season starting at the Aurora Invite on Sept. 9. The Hornets will look to jump into the top three of the MIAA this season after finishing fourth at the MIAA Championships in 2021 and 2022.
Schedule Breakdown
- The Aurora Invite will occur at the Northwestern Medicine XC Course in Geneva, Ill., on Sept. 9.
- Kalamazoo will head back to Illinois on Sept. 16 to run in the Gil Dodds Invitational at the St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Ill., hosted by Wheaton.
- The Hornets will return to Michigan to participate in the Lansing CC Invite on Sept. 22 at Grand Wood Park.
- The next race will occur in Grand Rapids as the Calvin Knight Invite will run on Sept. 29.
- Kalamazoo will participate in the Augustana Interregional Invite again this year as the race takes place at the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill., on Oct. 14.
- The Hornets will then turn their attention to the MIAA Championships at Three Fires Golf Club in Holland, Mich., on Oct. 28.
- The NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional meet will run on Nov. 11 at John Carroll University in Akron, Ohio.
Roster Breakdown
- Kalamazoo returns 13 of the 16 runners from 2022, with one senior graduating, and will add six new members for 19 total heading into 2023.
- The roster is comprised of three seniors, four juniors, six sophomores, and another six runners entering their first collegiate season.
Returning Statistical Leaders
- All of the runners coming back ran their personal best in a race last season and will look to keep improving this season.
- The Hornets return their top two runners, with Paige Anderson and Alison Hankins entering their junior seasons. Anderson was an All-MIAA First Team selection after finishing seventh at the MIAA Championships with a time of 22:05, while also being an All-Region selection after finishing 22nd at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Hankins also earned a top-25 finish, crossing the line in 24th at 23:06.
- Maddie Hanulcik and Grace McGlynn were Kalamazoo's fourth and fifth runners last season, as Hanulcik's top time last season was 24:24 and McGlynn's was 23:43.
- Annalise Bailey and Elise Elliot pushed to finish in the top five for the Hornets, running their fastest times of 24:17 and 24:27 in the final race.
- The trio of Maya Alkema, Annaliese Bol, and Zenaida Sackett saw success in their first collegiate seasons and are returning.
Stepping Up
- Alkema, Bol, and Sackett will look to continue improving after their best times of 25:38, 26:00, and 26:23 last season.
- Haleigh Nower and Aliza Garcia return after studying abroad last fall and will look to get back into the mix. In 2021, Nower's best time was 27:47, while Garcia's was 26:18.
- Mart Klenke and Madi Magda are another two returners who will try to make an impact this season.
- Also looking to make a splash in their first season as a Hornet are Alisa Mason, Allison Nutt, and Cate Cotter as they look to strengthen the team from top to bottom.
- Pauline Hawkes, Lucy VanDemark, and Anna VanDuinen join the freshmen class and will look to push their teammates for a regular spot in the rotation.
Head Coach Kyle Morrison
Coach Morrison returns for his fifth season as the head coach for the men's and women's cross country programs. He has accumulated six top-five finishes as a head coach, including a second-place finish for the women at the Knight-Raider Invite in 2021. In addition, Coach Morrison has coached two All-MIAA finishers: Rachael Gallap, who did it twice in 2019 and 2021, and Paige Anderson in 2022.
Quoting Coach Morrison
"The women's team has their sights set pretty high. Paige Anderson, Alisa Mason, and Alison Hankins will be a powerful 1-2-3 punch, with all having the potential to be All-Region runners. It would be great to get two or more of them to Nationals. Follow these three up with a pack of seven to eight runners, and we have a solid squad. With minimal graduation loss compared to other schools in the MIAA and the region, we are in a great spot. We believe this squad will finish between seventh and ninth in the region after a 13th-place finish in the fall of 2022. There will also be a concentrated effort to break into the top three in the MIAA standings after finishing a solid fourth the past two seasons."