NEWVILLE, Pa. - The Kalamazoo College women's cross country team had one representative at the 2023 NCAA DIII Championships on Saturday (Nov. 18) at Big Springs High School. Paige Anderson qualified after finishing fourth at the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional and turned in a 90th-place finish at the championships.
Fiona Smith of St. Benedict was the individual champion after finishing at 19:54. Carelton took home the team championship with 151 points, and NYU finished as the runner-up with 154 points. Chicago came in third (156 points), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished fourth (158 points), and SUNY Geneseo rounded out the top five (205 points).
Anderson started the race off strong after running the first mile in 5:48. The next mile took Anderson six minutes, and then she crossed the 5k line at 19:03. She ended up with a time of 22:25, which is a 6:01 mile pace. Anderson was the third MIAA runner to cross the finish line behind Rebecca Markham of Hope (26th) and Hailey Erickson of Calvin (78th).
Anderson had a strong season, finishing with five top-10 finishes, including fourth-place finishes at the MIAA Championships and the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional. She set a new school record at the regional with a time of 20:49, was an All-MIAA First Team selection, and was an All-Region finisher.
"This was a fantastic fall for Paige and the program as a whole," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "The last four years of training and resilience put us in the position to reach a new level of success. Paige has been instrumental in us getting there. She's gone from 52nd to 22nd to fourth in the NCAA DIII Great Lakes Regional, which has helped inspire both teams to keep climbing in the MIAA and regional standings. Paige ran a very challenging course with poise today. She got out through the mile in a very good position and maintained through a hilly section of the course. Even after the biggest hill, she made a move in the last kilometer to pass 10 more runners. I am so proud of her effort and what she has experienced this year. Next year, we would like to get a team to the national meet at Terre Haute to keep her company."