GRAND RAPIDS – The Lake Superior State men's cross country team placed fifth among 10 teams, while the Laker women were fifth among eight teams at Friday's Raider Invitational hosted by Grand Rapids Community College.
Aquinas won the men's team title with 52 points, and Siena Heights was second with 76. The women's team title went to Siena Heights with 31 points, followed by Aquinas with 55. LSSU coach Jason Davis noted that both Laker squads improved dramatically during their third outing of the season with several individuals notching season-best times.
Sophomore Lydia Heimonen placed eighth in 19:45.5 in the women's 5,000-meter race to post LSSU's best overall finish. For the Laker women, MacKenzie Kelley was 37th in 21:03.3, Trudie Mulville 43rd in 21:11.2, Kaitlyn Cavallo 44th in 21:11.2 and Rebecca Lathrop 56th in 22:10.3. Christina Bruce placed 66th and Melody Perrin 75th.
Two LSSU seniors placed among the top 20 in the men's 8,000-meter race. Ryan Rogers was 19th in 27:36.6, and Jacob Baker was 20th in 27:36.6. Jack Miles finished 31st in 28:09, and Thomas VanSlembrouck was 33rd in 28:17.2. Edward Carlson placed 41st with a time of 28:32, followed by Parker Wyngaard in the 47th spot in 28:43.8. LSSU's lineup also included Dylan Richards (52nd), Travis Sutton (53rd) and Andrew Vincent (54th).
Ashley Russo of Siena Heights won the women's race in 18:42.1. Unattached runners swept the top three men's finishes. Davenport's Cameron Bredice (26:37) and Tanner Droste were the top two finishers among eligible scorers.