Wildcats Women's Cross Country Arena | Northern Michigan University Athletics
Wildcats Women's Cross Country Arena | Northern Michigan University Athletics
The Northern Michigan University women's cross country team secured first place at the Royals Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday evening. Competing against 18 teams, including several nationally ranked programs, the Wildcats scored 39 points to edge out No. 19 Catawba, which finished with 47 points.
This event marked the Wildcats' first 5K race of the season. Madi Szymanski led the team with a third-place finish and a personal best time of 17:18.7. Szymanski's performance was her fourth consecutive top-10 finish since returning from injury last year and improved her previous personal record by over a minute.
Freshman Ashley Choponis continued her strong debut season by finishing fourth in 17:26.3. Choponis was also recognized as the top underclassman among the field of 164 runners. Emma Sweeney completed the trio of top-10 finishes for NMU by placing ninth with a time of 17:40.3, improving her previous best by two minutes.
Other notable performances included Beverly Harper and Sophia Potter, who finished 13th and 15th respectively, both running under 18 minutes. The Wildcats were the only team to have five runners complete the course in under 18 minutes.
Additional results for NMU included Lamar Gordon (22nd), Dani VanLente (24th), and Madalyn Agren (27th). The rest of the team members who competed were Lola Korpi, Ella DeBruyn, Maija Maki-Warne, Celia Wallace, and Anya VanSweden.
Sierra Bower won the individual title as an unattached runner with a time of 16:40.0. Madison Clay from Catawba finished second at 17:15.8.
"Friday's full results can be found here."
NMU will conclude its regular season at the Husky Invitational hosted by Michigan Tech on October 17 at 4:15 p.m.
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