TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Western Michigan cross country team finished 16
th at the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships while senior
Hanne Christensen earned a spot in the NCAA Championships with a sixth place finish individually. Christensen becomes the second member of the Broncos to compete in the championships since 1986.
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"We had some really great performances today especially with the true cross country conditions," commented WMU associate head coach
Taryn Sheehan. "It was cold and windy, making it a tough race from that standard. Hanne improved her race from even the MAC meet while Claire finished strong in her final race as a Bronco. It was great to see the team move up some places from last year and it makes us excited moving forward."
As a team, the Broncos held strong with a number of tough teams throughout the entire race. No. 7 ranked Michigan won the race with a team score of 71 while WMU finished with 456, good for 16
th overall improving its finish by three spots from last season. The Broncos also finished fourth overall against Mid-American Conference opponents, behind Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Ohio.
Based on her performance, Christensen was awarded all-region honors. She led WMU with a 6K time of 20:48.8 while Indiana's Katherine Receveur won the race with a time of 20:34.9. In her last race with the Brown & Gold, senior
Claire Gilbert finished second for the Broncos in 66
th with a time of 21:52.2 while junior
Sarah Anderson (73
rd/22:01.4), freshman
Juliane Sormain (130
th/22:56) and sophomore
Brittney Hall (191
st/24:35.7) rounded out the top-5 for WMU.
The other Bronco finishers include sophomore
Autumn Lewis crossing at 24:35.7 and freshman
Rebecca McNamee at 25:11.7.
"This is the next step that we want our program to take," added WMU head coach
Kelly Lycan. "I can't say enough to what coach (
Taryn Sheehan) has done with these girls and I couldn't be more proud. I am excited for the future of this team."
As a team, the 2017 season has come to an end for the Broncos but Christensen will head to Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, Nov. 18 for the NCAA Championships.
