KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- After a week off, the Western Michigan cross country team will be back in action on Friday morning at the Joe Piane Invitational, which is hosted by Notre Dame. The Broncos will be in the Gold race, which begins at 1:30 PM. 

LAST TIME OUT
WMU hosted the George Dales Invite back on Sept. 20 at the Prairies Golf Club with the Brown and Gold seeing six runners place inside the top 25. As a team, the Broncos finished fourth. Leading the way for Western Michigan was Lillian Zelasko, who finished sixth in her college debut. 

Lara Machado Pereira was next in line for WMU, as she placed 16th. After her, Brooke Soper took 18th place and Grace Aurand grabbed 19th place. Following those two were Lily Overton and Delaney Knoll, who finished 24th and 25th, respectively. 

LAST YEAR'S EVENT
As a team, Western Michigan finished 10th at last year's Joe Piane Invite. Danielle Rinn led the way with a ninth-place finish. Kayla Schiera crossed the finish line in 29th place, while CJ Nixon was able to grab 44th place. Madison Clor and Larissa McGrather were also in the top 80 of the event. 

LEADING THE WAY
The Broncos have gotten strong starts from Lillian Zelasko and Lily Overton over the first two meets of the season. Overton paced the Broncos in the first meet of the season at Valparaiso, earning sixth place in her debut with the Broncos. She followed that up with a 25th-place finish at the George Dales Invite. 

Zelasko made her cross country college debut at the George Dales Invite, crossing the finish line in sixth place for the Broncos. She had the top time on the team and helped the Brown and Gold claim fourth as a team. Both Zelasko and Overton will be in action for the Broncos this weekend at Notre Dame. 

REGIONALLY RANKED
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its regional rankings on Sept. 30. The Broncos checked it at No. 15 in the poll, being one of just six Mid-American Conference teams ranked in the poll. Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, Central Michigan and Bowling Green were the other MAC schools in the rankings. 

WHO'S RUNNING? 
In total, the Brown and Gold will send 10 runners out on the course tomorrow afternoon. That includes: 

Grace Aurand
Shannon Gillahan
Delaney Knoll
Ava Kurczewski
Lara Machado Pereira
Larissa McGrath
Lily Overton
Lauren Sancrant
Brooke Soper
Lillian Zelasko