KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Senior Lily Overton crossed the line in third to help the Western Michigan cross country team to a third-place finish at the George Dales Invite on Friday at the Prairies Golf Club. Four Broncos were among the top-12 finishers during the 6K race.  
 
Akron (37 points) took the top spot, while Bowling Green (66), WMU (69), Saginaw Valley State (124) and Dayton (138) rounded out the top-5. The Broncos finished well ahead of fellow MAC squads Ball State (161), Eastern Michigan (163) and Central Michigan (193).
 
In her season debut, Overton paced the Brown and Gold the whole way and took third overall with a PR time of 20:45.4. Lillian Zelasko also cracked the top-10 in her season debut for Western Michigan, crossing the line in sixth with a time of 21:12.2.
 
Ava Kurczewski picked up an 11th-place finish in her first competition of the 2026 campaign with a PR time of 21:38.5. Rebekah Asselin was just behind her in 12th, shaving nearly a minute off of her previous 6K PR with a time of 21:39.1. Kaelin Hughes rounded out WMU's scoring lineup with a time of 22:24.1 to place 37th.
 
Larissa McGrath was just behind Hughes for the Brown and Gold, coming in 39th with a time of 22:25.6. Madison Clor clocked a time of 23:20.5, while Shannon Gillahan's time of 23:31.7 was just fractions of a second away from a PR.

"I'm very pleased with our effort today," WMU head coach Kevin Cataldo said. "Lil (Overton) opened her season with a personal best, the same with Ava and Bekah who also had big performances for us. We got Lilly (Zelasko) back on the cross course for the first time in two years and she was excellent. I think this was a great first 6K for the team. We have some areas we can improve, which makes this even more exciting as we progress through the season."
 
UP NEXT
Western Michigan returns to action on Friday, Oct. 2, at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite in South Bend, Ind. The meet is slated to begin at 10 am.