PEORIA, Ill. – Junior
Haley Ritsema paced the Western Michigan cross country squad Friday, Oct. 12 at the Bradley Pink Classic, hosted by Bradley University. The 6K race featured 40 schools with over 250 student-athletes.
Brisk temperatures forced the Broncos to fight the cold, which included snow and a muddy Newman Golf Course.
"Overall it was a successful outing today considering the course was quite muddy and it was hard to run a fast time when you're slipping as the snow was coming down pretty hard," said head coach
Kelly Lycan.
Ritsema turned in a season-best 6K time of 23:27.5 for a team-best finish. Five other Broncos competed, including
Cheryl White,
Olivia VandePol,
Kayla Dominguez,
Kailyn Mince, and
Lila Rode.
Despite the Brown & Gold finishing behind most of the competition, a young group of Broncos had promising performances. Ritsema, VandePol, Mince, and Rode each had season-best 6K times.
"It was the last go around for this group before the Mid-American Conference Championships, and several took advantage," Lycan commented. "Haley was a few seconds shy of an all-time personal best. Her and
Cheryl White got out pretty well and ran together for the first 3K. Cheryl had a good outing for her first meet of the season."
Bronco Results
224.
Haley Ritsema, 23:27.5
242.
Cheryl White, 23:45.8
263:
Olivia VandePol 24:18.1
277:
Kayla Dominguez, 24:52.4
283:
Kailyn Mince, 25:07.4
293:
Lila Rode, 26:05.3
Tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 13, WMU's top-seven will compete at the Wisconsin Pre-National race in Madison, Wis. The race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m (ET).
