KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Fresh off its lone home meet of the season, the Western Michigan women's cross country team prepares for the 38th annual Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational sponsored by Playmakers, which is set for Friday, Sept. 14 and is hosted by Michigan State. The meet will take place at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich., with the women's 6k scheduled for a 12:15 p.m. start.

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"We are taking a small group over to the invitational tomorrow," commented WMU associate head coach Taryn Sheehan. "Every week you will notice the intensity of our schedule slowly increasing. This will be a great chance to line up in a large field of nearly 30 teams, which we haven't seen yet this season. This is also our first 6k race of the season which will provide a great learning experience and hopefully a confidence booster to our very young squad."

Senior captain Sarah Anderson led the Broncos last time out at the 2018 George Dales Invitational on Friday, Sept. 7, claiming third place in her first race of the season. Anderson boasted a personal best 5K time of 17:39.8 while co-captain and senior teammate Maria McDaniel crossed the finish line at 18:07.7 to take sixth overall.

Junior Juliane Sormain also cracked the top-10 while freshmen Paisley Sipes and Chloe McEachern rounded out the Bronco top-five finishers. As a team WMU fell short to the reigning Mid-American Conference Champions Eastern Michigan to a score of 19-40.

The Spartan Invitational marks the first race of the season that the Broncos will run a 6k and the second time this season they run on unfamiliar territory. Friday features 32 difference college teams competing, including host MSU, who enters the meet ranked No. 15 in Week 1 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association poll.

Western Michigan will take a break from the action after the Spartan Invitational and will set its eyes on Friday, Sept. 28 when the Broncos travel to the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., hosted by the University of Notre Dame.