HOLLAND, Mich.-- The Trine women's cross country team earned its best-ever finish in an MIAA race as the Thunder placed third in the MIAA Jamboree, hosted by Hope College.
The performance of Trine runners earned the team 108 points. The previous-best performance by any Thunder women's cross country team in an MIAA race was a seventh-place finish, which the team had achieved on several occasions. Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont./West Yellowstone) continued her strong start to the season, earning the team 17 points with her performance. The sophomore ran a strong time of 23:42 on the 6K course. Hope College won the race with a team performance of 26 points.
Courtney Forsythe (West Mansfield, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) finished just behind Binfet, earning the Thunder 19 points with her time of 23:48.
Follwing with 22 and 23 point performances were freshman Samantha Stensland (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and junior Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio/Anthony Wayne). Stensland ran a time of 23:56, with Oritz coming in just a second behind.
Rounding out Trine's top five was freshman Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), who ran a time of 24:11.2 to earn the team 27 points.
The top five Thunder runners combined to average a time of 23:55.5.
The results of the Jamboree count one-third towards the final MIAA standings. The MIAA Championship, slated for Oct. 31 will make up the remaining two-thirds.
Trine will compete in the Bethel College Invitational on Friday, Oct. 9.