NOTRE DAME, IND. -- The Western Michigan cross country team had a strong day on the course, earning eighth place out of 23 teams at the Joe Piane Invite on Friday afternoon. That eighth-place finish was the program's highest since 2018 at the Joe Piane Invite.
Indiana State, Appalachian State, St. Thomas, Idaho State, Ball State, Texas A&M-CC, Cincinnati, WMU, Wisconsin-La Crosse and Akron were the top 10 teams at the event.
Lillian Zelasko led the way for the Brown and Gold, collecting 15th place with a time of 17:36.7. She has now finished 15th or better in back-to-back races to start her college career. Following Zelasko was
Brooke Soper, who finished 47th with a PR 5K time of 18:09.6.
Grace Aurand and
Delaney Knoll weren't too far behind, as that duo finished 58th and 59th, respectively. Aurand also notched a PR time, finishing the race in 18:19.5. Not to be outdone, Knoll claimed another Bronco PR with a finishing time of 18:20.9.
Rounding out the scoring lineup for WMU was
Lauren Sancrant, who finished 62nd with a big PR time of 18:24.9.
Lily Overton,
Ava Kurczewski and
Lara Machado Pereira also finished in the top 100 of the meet. The trio all earned times under 19 minutes, with Kurczewski and Machado Pereira recording PR marks.
UP NEXT
The Broncos will have one more regular-season meet before competing at the MAC Championships in early November. The Brown and Gold will be at the Pre-Nationals meet in Madison, Wis. on Oct. 19.
