CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Western Michigan cross country team finished in the top 10 at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Broncos finished in eighth place out of the 28 teams competing in the event hosted by Loyola.

Senior Christi Valanty (Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park) had the top finish for the Broncos, finishing 47th with a time of 18:45 on the Montrose Avenue Beach course on Chicago's North Side. Valanty is the first runner other than Kristi Powers (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) to lead the Broncos this season.

The Broncos finished in a tight pack as freshman Jill Odom (Highland, Ind./Highland) finished 49th (18:50), Powers finished 56th (18:55), senior Rachael Lowe (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) finished 57th (18:56) and freshman Jennifer Roberts (Bowlingbrook, Ill./Romeoville) finished 67th (19:07).

"We ran a little bit better this week," head coach Kelly Lycan said. "The good thing about our team is that we have a lot of depth and run well together in a pack, but we need a frontrunner who can finish in the top-20 to take the next step."

Western Michigan was one of four MAC schools competing in the event in addition to Ball State, Kent State and Northern Illinois. Ball State finished fourth, but the Broncos defeated their other two MAC rivals as the Golden Flashes finished 17th and the Huskies finished 21st.

The Broncos return to Kalamazoo, Mich., this week to prepare for next weekend's Michigan Intercollegiates on Friday, October 7 in Rochester, Mich.