WESTVILLE, Ind. -- The Wayne State University women's cross country team placed fourth out of 12 teams at the 2019 GLIAC Championships (6K) on Saturday, hosted by Purdue Northwest.

The top three teams included Grand Valley State in first place (17 points), followed by Saginaw Valley State (89 points) and Michigan Tech (92 points).  Trailing Wayne State (109 points) included Northern Michigan (123 points), Ferris State (159 points), Parkside (206 points), Ashland (245 points), Northwood (257 points), Purdue Northwest (267 points), Lake Superior State (331 points), and Davenport (336 points).

RESULTS

Sophomore Ashley Defrain (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) led the Green and Gold with a ninth-place finish (21:52.4), earning First Team All-GLIAC honors.

Graduate student Jackie Feist (Beverly Hills, Mich. / Birmingham Groves) received Second Team All-GLIAC accolades after a 19th-place finish (22:15.5).

Sophomore Miranda Banks (Carleton, Mich. / Airport), senior Teresa Diehl (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / Warren Regina), and freshman Cameron Martella (Gaylord, Mich.) all finished within moments of each other.  Banks crossed the finish line in 32nd place (23:01.0), with Diehl in 33rd place (23:01.8) and Martella in 34th place (23:04.4).

Freshmen Thailyia Christensen (Flushing, Mich.) and Kate Duffing (Traverse City, Mich. / St. Francis) finished shortly after, in 37th place (23:08.4) and 39th place (23:10.0), respectively.

Sophomore Kennadi Rankin (Macomb, Mich. / Eisenhower) claimed the 45th spot with a time of 23:16.0.

Freshman Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich.) completed the race in 67th place (24:01.0), followed by junior Lyndsey Braman (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic) in 75th place (24:26.9).

Freshmen Charlene Yarema (Romeo, Mich.) and Makenzie Wank (Richland, Mich. / Gull Lake) rounded out the WSU pack.  Yarema placed 86th (25:09.8), with Wank in 94th place (25:44.9).

FROM COACH LOFDAHL

"The women probably put together their best team race of the season, but the GLIAC is tough and we still came up short of where we wanted to be.  Ashley was really grinding out there on a challenging course, and this was her best race since GLIACs a year ago.  She is gaining confidence with each workout and race.  Jackie had a tough day but still gutted out her third top 20 conference meet finish in a row.  Our captains Teresa Diehl and Miranda Banks did a great job pulling the freshmen along and leading by example today.

"As a whole, it was not a bad day for us. Our goal was top three on both sides, so we are a little disappointed.  But we are a young team and we are still growing and evolving.  With eight runners in the top-45 on both sides, our depth is our strength.  The challenge now is for our packs move up and compete nearer to the front of big races, and I think we will do that at regionals in two weeks."

UP NEXT

The Warriors will compete at the 2019 Midwest Regional on Saturday, Nov. 9th.