Over the weekend the NMU Wildcat cross country team headed to Kenosha, Wisc. where the Wildcats competed in the Lucian Rosa Invite. The Wildcats competed against over 20 other teams, including nationally ranked teams, meaning the Wildcats had to fight for every spot. Their hard work paid off in the end, earning the Wildcats the fourth overall place at the invite finishing behind all top-ranked schools. The Wildcats also outran nationally ranked teams, including GLIAC rival Parkside, who lists at No. 25.
This adds another top finish for the Wildcats early this season. This hot start sets the Wildcats in the sixth ranked spot in the midwest region, looking to only increase the national ranking of the team. Previously the Wildcats placed second and third in the first two meets earlier this season.
The top Wildcat finish in the Lucian Rosa Invite came from senior star Madi Syzmanski who placed in the top ten of the race with a run time of 21:37. With consistent top ten performances, Syzmanski has proven to be a strong runner, earning the GLIAC Cross Country runner of the week for the second time this season, claiming the honors in back-to-back weeks.
“To go out with that lead pack, it’s a chance to really see how far she could go. She ran well because those were some top athletes from across the country. So, you know, I think she’ll just keep moving up,” Head Coach Jenny Ryan said.
Behind Syzmanski for the Cats was the freshman Ashley Choponis, who placed 18th overall with a final time of 21:51. Finishing in the top 100 were a few more Wildcats: junior Lamar Gordon posted a race time of 22:28 locking in the 41st place spot, right behind Gordon for the Cats, in 44th place was senior Sophia Potter with a 22:32 finishing time. Rounding out the top 100 Cats, in 60th place was junior Emma Sweeney, followed by Dani Van Lente and Beverly Harper who placed 73rd and 84th overall.
“We beat some top ranked teams, and our one freshman, Ashley, we tested her a little bit more this time to see how close she could get to Madi and she was again, close. And then that whole group behind… a few of them felt like they didn’t have their best races, but that’s the nice thing about the depth that we have is some didn’t have as good a race, but the other ones had good races and we had enough to finish as high as we did,” Coach Ryan said.
This week the Cats have a well earned break as they gear up for next weekend. Next weekend the Wildcats are back on the road to compete in the Royals Challenge where the team will head to Charlotte, N.C.
“A chance to really get some fast times too. So going into then the championship season really having that confidence about how fast they can run,” Coach Ryan said.
