Wayne State University Athletics

Marissa Krynak

Briana Vojinov led the Green and Gold victory with a third-place finish on Friday.

Women's Cross Country 9/15/2023 9:02:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Cross Country Wins Warrior Challenge for Fifth Time

The host Warriors have won all five editions of the event, dating back to 2018.

NEW BOSTON, Mich. -- For the fifth consecutive season in which the event was held, the Wayne State University women's cross country team was a winner in its home meet. The squad topped seven other schools to triumph in the 2023 Warrior Challenge at Willow Metropark in New Boston, Mich.

The women's team also won the event in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. The cross country season was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Runners raced three laps for a grand total of six kilometers. 88 athletes finished, including 15 from Wayne State posting a time (plus one unattached Warriors runner on the team roster).

WSU posted 29 points in the winning effort, 43 points ahead of second-place Cornerstone University with 72 points. The remainder of the finishing order was Hillsdale College (89 points), Calvin University (94 points), Davenport University (95 points), Madonna University (164 points), Rochester University (197 points), and Siena Heights University (201 points).

Leading the way for the Green and Gold was Briana Vojinov (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) in third-place. She finished with a time of 22:10.80, just over 14 seconds behind the winner from Hillsdale, Liz Wamsley. Vojinov led two other Warriors across the finish line, as Reagan Justice (Canton, Mich. / Salem) placed fourth with a time of 22:26.70 and Anna O'Connor (Waterford, Ireland) came home fifth with a mark of 22:48.40. Justice was the 2021 event winner, while O'Connor ran in her second meet as a Warrior.

Scored in eighth and ninth to round out the team's five top-ten finishers were Annalee Misch (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower) and Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich. / Novi). Misch recorded a time of 23:15.10, with Ray recording a 23:20.00 for her time.

Also in the top-15 were Charlene Yarema (Romeo, Mich. / Romeo) in 12th and Aubrey Migoski (Wyandotte, Mich. / Roosevelt) in 13th, with marks of 23:38.20 and 23:39.60, respectively.

Putting in an 16th place effort was Robin Bresolin (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova) with a 23:45.40, while Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich. / Northville) was 18th (24:01.20). Registering a time of 24:05.70 was Mattie Drennan (Clarkston, Mich. / Clarkston), enough for 20th position.

Freshman Anna Gdowski (Northville, Mich. / Northville) ran unattached for a second consecutive meet and finished 23rd with a 24:25.10. Other finishers for Wayne State were Layla Martini (Casnovia, Mich. / Kent City) (26th - 24:42.10), Sarah Greb (Washington, Mich. / Romeo) (42nd - 25:33.90), Natalie Davies (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea) (51st - 25:55.30), Emily Esker (Livonia, Mich. / Franklin) (53rd - 26:03.70), and Jillian Vera (Saugatuck, Mich. / Saugatuck) (57th - 26:18.20).

FROM COACH LOFDAHL
"Our ladies earned their fifth-straight win and are still undefeated at the Warrior Challenge since we started the meet, so that was fun. They enjoy racing on their home course at Willow. We struggled a bit in terms of execution and pack running today, which is something we will work on in the coming weeks because our pack is our strength and we need to get back to racing as a team. The biggest highlights were Anna O'Connor, Annalee Misch, and Katherine Ray in the 3-4-5 spots for us today. All three stepped up, and for Annalee in particular this was a real breakthrough race," said head coach Grant Lofdahl.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will next compete in the 37th running of the Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The six-kilometer event for Division II and III will be at 1:15 p.m. Eastern (12:15 p.m. Central) at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Saint Paul, Minn. The meet is the first of back-to-back out of the state for the Warriors.

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Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Natalie Davies: 5' 7"; Junior

Mattie Drennan: 5' 6"; Junior

Emily Esker: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

Anna Gdowski: 5' 8"; Freshman

Emily Gordon: 5' 7"; Junior

Sarah Greb: 5' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

Reagan Justice: 5' 4"; Junior

Layla Martini: 5' 5"; Junior

Aubrey Migoski: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Natalie Davies
: 5' 7"; Junior

Mattie Drennan
: 5' 6"; Junior

Emily Esker
: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

Anna Gdowski
: 5' 8"; Freshman

Emily Gordon
: 5' 7"; Junior

Sarah Greb
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

Reagan Justice
: 5' 4"; Junior

Layla Martini
: 5' 5"; Junior

Aubrey Migoski
: 5' 6"; Sophomore