ANGOLA, Ind. -- Trine will be looking to climb up the MIAA standings when the Thunder compete in the MIAA Women's Cross Country Championship this Saturday.
The Thunder could move into a tie for third in the final MIAA standings with a third-place finish in Saturday's race. Such a finish would give Trine a new team-best finish in back-to-back years after the team tied for fourth last season. The Thunder placed fifth in the MIAA Jamboree earlier this season, which counts one-third towards the final conference standings. Trine runners appear to be peaking at the right time, as five runners ran personal or season-best times in the team's last race.
Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont. / West Yellowstone) will be looking to earn her second consecutive all-conference nod in Saturday's race. Last season, the junior became the program's first All-MIAA performer since Trine joined the conference in 2004. Binfet is coming a big personal-record 6K time at Oberlin, which was a program-best for any runner since the Thunder joined the MIAA.
Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio / Anthony Wayne) was the team's top performer in the MIAA Jamboree and will be competing in her final conference championship race. Samantha Stensland (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) is coming off a performance in which she demolished her previous career-best 6K time by 57 seconds.
Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake) and Heather Richardson (Fort Wayne, Ind. / South Side) round out Trine's roster. Blystone has run consistent times this season, while Richardson beat her pervious personal-best by 45 seconds in her last race. Piekarski has worked her way back from injury to rejoin the team in time for the conference meet.
Saturday's MIAA Women's Cross Country Championship race will be held at Tomac Woods Golf Course. The women's 6K race is scheduled to begin at Noon. CLICK HERE for directions and more information.