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The Skippers finished 10th overall but 1st of the community colleges at the Spartan Invite

The Skippers finished 10th overall but 1st of the community colleges at the Spartan Invite
Posted: Sep 13, 2024

East Lansing, MI - This past Friday, the Women's Cross Country team traveled to Michigan State University to compete in the Spartan Invitational, which took place at Forest Akers East Golf Course on the MSU campus. The team placed 10th overall and was the leading junior college team, beating out Lansing Community College and Lake Michigan College. This was a debut at the 6k distance for 4 out of the 5 team members. 

Grace Wessel ran a strong race, placing 81st amongst 173 runners and finishing first for the Skippers. Wessel continued to move up in place throughout the race, posting a time of 24:53 and setting the school record at the 6k distance. Lily Lemanski started the race strong and finished strong holding her place the last 1.3 miles of the race. Lemanski crossed the line in 26:23, becoming the second fastest Skipper at the 6k distance. Running third for the team was Jenna Denver, posting a time of 27:18. Denver pushed through the race, moving up 15 places after the mile mark. Denver's efforts rank her as the 4th fastest Skipper at the 6k distance. Olivia Crawford was the team's fourth runner, in a time of 28:10. Crawford continued to move up in place throughout the race as well, improving her place by 12 spots after the first mile. Crawford was only 28 seconds off her personal record, which ranks her 7th amongst the fastest Skippers to run a 6k. Rounding out the team scoring was Laela Bhatti, finishing in a time of 29:37. Bhatti is now the 9th fastest Skipper at the 6k distance.   

Lily's take: 

"After running my first 6k race I was a little bit disappointed about my time, but I have to understand it was my second collegiate race my first 6k ever. The 6k was a bit different for me because I've never ran anything over a 5k and I just got used to setting a pace for a 5k. Overall, I feel like our team did very well because we hit one of our team goals, which was beating Lansing. It took all of our hard work to do that, so I'm very proud of our team." 

The women return to action Friday, September 20th at the MCCAA Eastern Conference meet hosted by Macomb Community College at Stony Creek Metro Park.