ATHENS, Ohio – For the first time in program history the Western Michigan cross country team had two student-athletes earn First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors as the Broncos took fifth overall at the MAC Championship at the Ohio University Golf Course on Saturday.
 
Makayla Perez finished fifth overall with a time of 20:23.5 and Kayla Schiera took seventh overall with a time of 20:32.9 to earn spots on the first team. It's also the first time the Broncos have had multiple All-MAC honors since 2018.
 
WMU's fifth-place finish was also the highest since the 2018 championship and just the fourth time the Broncos had finished in the top five since 2000.
 
"I thought we competed the entire race," said interim head coach Kevin Cataldo. "I challenged the team after Bradley to not just be a participant in the race but be a competitor and they answered that challenge. Mak managed herself very well after not running for a month. She was controlled early and in the race late. I thought Kayla did a great job of working her way into the top 10. This was the first time we had those two race together this season and it did not disappoint."  
 
Miami's Carmen Riano was the individual champion, while Toledo repeated as MAC Champions.
 
Annalise James had a stellar performance with a personal-best time of 21:29.5 to finish 25th. Senior Katelyn Spooner finished 34th overall with a time of 21:46.7 and Brooke Soper was the team's fifth finisher in 63rd place at 22:38.5. Lauren Scanrat and Maggie Raab rounded out the team's top seven with 77th and 82nd place finishes.
 
"Annalise was 72nd last year and moved to 25th this year in an even more competitive field," Cataldo added. "I also have to say that Katelyn stepped up and closed the gap on Annalise to keep our 1-4 spread even tighter than it has been this year. Each of the nine women that toed the line for us today did so with a sense of purpose and I couldn't ask for anything more than that."
 
Up next for the Broncos is the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship out at Indiana State University on Friday, Nov. 11.