NORTH MANCHESTER, IND.-- The Trine women's cross country season opened the season with a fourth-place finish in the Manchester Univeristy Hokum Karem, held Friday night at Manchester University.

The Thunder women earned 28 points for their performance in the event. Runners grouped in pairs earned points for their respective teams, with each team's top three pairs of runners contributing to the overall team score. Trine's top duo was made up of Heather Richardson (Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side) and Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio/Anthony Wayne). Each runner ran alternating one-mile circuits around the course, with each runner covering a distance of three miles total. The pair of runners combined to average a 6:30 mile to finish seventh. Richardson ran the best split in the group, running a 6:10 in the first mile of her first collegiate race. 

Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont./West Yellowstone) and Niki Louise Salzman (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove) finished second among Trine running groups and 12th overall. They averaged a 7:01 mile. Binfet opened her collegiate career with a 6:29 split in the first mile.

Rounding out Trine's point-earners were Courtney Forsythe (West Manfield, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) and Adrea Alyse Ayres (Eastlake, Ohio/North). The duo averaged a 7:04 mile. Forsythe opened with a 6:22 split over her first mile for the top mile split among the two runners.

Manchester won the team title with seven points.

Click Here for Complete Results.

Trine returns to the race course next Friday, Sep. 5 when they will compete in Taylor University's Ray Bullock Invitational.