Madi Szymanski leads Wildcats with fifth place finish
MINNEAPOLIS – The Northern Michigan cross country team placed 3rd out of 24 teams on Saturday at the Roy Griak Invite in St. Paul, Minnesota, with seven top-30 finishes.
In a race featuring over 250 runners, NMU was once again led by Madi Szymanski with a time of 23:15.8, landing her in 5th. Closely behind her was freshman Ashley Choponis, who finished 8th with a time of 23:27.7.
Behind NMU’s two top-10 finishers, they had three additional runners finish in the top-25. Lamar Gordon placed 14th with a time of 23:39.0, with Emma Sweeney and Dani Vanlente crossing in 23rd and 24th with times of 24:07.8 and 24:13.3, respectively.
Two other Wildcats crossed the finish line within the top-30. Beverly Harper crossed in 27th with a time of 24:16.3, and Sophia Porter finished in 30th with a time of 24:20.1.
Madelyn Agren finished 50th at 24:57.5 and Celia Wallace finished shortly after her in 54th with a time of 25:00.5. Ella Debruyn (25:10.9, 61st), Lola Korpi (25:11.8, 63rd), and Maija Maki-Warne (25:18.9, 69th) also placed in the top-70 for NMU.
As a team, this is the Wildcats’ best finish at the Roy Griak since 2016, when they also placed 3rd. Winona State took home the team win and Minnesota State (Mankato) finished in 2nd. Both teams that finished ahead of NMU are currently ranked in the Top-25 nationally in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II national coaches poll. NMU finished with 74 team points, just behind Minnesota State with 66 and ahead of Minnesota Duluth in 4th with 118 points.
Winona State swept the top-3 with Sophia Taarud winning the race with a time of 22:19.4.
