KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan cross country team wraps up its 2026 regular season on Friday morning with the Pre-National Invitational, hosted by Indiana State. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 am.
LAST TIME OUT
Lily Overton led the Brown and Gold for the second consecutive meet, breaking the 5K school record with a time of 16:37.2 to lead WMU to a 10th-place team finish. It was Western Michigan's highest-ever finish in the meet's Blue Division, the strongest of the event's races.
All five members of WMU's scoring lineup placed in the top-100, paced by Overton crossing the line in 26th. The scoring five also all recorded 5K PRs, with
Ava Kurczewski shaving more than a minute off of her previous best to finish 47th and
Lillian Zelasko trimming over 20 seconds off of her prior top 5K time to place 57th. Both Kurczewski and Zelasko's times also cracked WMU's all-time, top-10 list.
Rebekah Asselin and
Kaelin Hughes placed 76th and 97th, respectively, with Asselin chopping nearly 30 seconds off of her prior best.
ANOTHER LOADED FIELD
Like WMU's last meet, the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite, the Pre-National Invitational is slated to be a loaded field, with seven of the nations top-30 teams scheduled to compete. The Broncos rose to the occasion at the Joe Piane Invite, finishing 10th as a team and having all five members of their scoring lineup place inside the top-100.
Western Michigan last competed in the Pre-National Invitational back in 2024 when it was hosted by Wisconsin. The Broncos finished 23rd as a team that day, with
Lillian Zelasko leading the way by finishing 36th.
HOLDING STRONG IN THE TOP-10
After earning a No. 9 ranking in the USTFCCCA preseason poll for the Great Lakes Region, the highest preseason ranking in program history, the Broncos remained ninth in the first regional poll of the regular season. In the weeks since, the Brown and Gold have held firm at No. 10 in the Great Lakes Region. This week's poll featured six Mid-American Conference squads in the top-15, with Toledo leading the way at No. 2. Also appearing in this week's poll from the MAC are Akron (#6), Miami (#7), Bowling Green (#8) and Ohio (#11).
WHO'S COMPETING? (Denotes 6K PR)
Rebekah Asselin (21:39.1)
Madison Clor (22:28.7)
Shannon Gillahan (23:31.4)
Kaelin Hughes (21:30.4)
Ava Kurczewski (21:38.5)
Larissa McGrath (22:05.1)
Lily Overton (20:45.4)
Emma Steele (22:09.4)
Madison Zarembski (21:43.2)
Lillian Zelasko (20:06.7)
