SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- The Trine women's cross country placed sixth in the Bethel College Invitational, held Friday evening at St. Patrick's Park.
Thunder runners earned the team 171 points in the 17-team race. Trine was the only Division III team competing in a field that was otherwise made up entirely of NAIA and NCCAA performers. The top five Thunder runners combined to average a time of 19:49.9 on the 5K course.
Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) and Courtney Forsythe (West Mansfield, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) led the way as both runners finished in 19:34. Ortiz finished 0.8 seconds ahead of Forsythe to finish 25th overall. Forsythe placed 26th. Each runner bested their previous-best 5K this year by well over a minute.
Freshman Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) earned Trine 30 points with a time of 19:43. Blystone also improved on her previous-best 5K this season by over a minute. Fellow freshman Samantha Stensland (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) ran the first sub-20 minute 5K of her collegiate career with a time of 19:58.
Rounding out Trine's top five was freshman Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake), who ran a time of 20:18.
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The Thunder will compete in the UW-Oshkosh AAE Invitational next Saturday. The race will be run on the national championship course.