TERRE HAUTE, Ind.-- The Trine women's cross country team placed seventh Small States Division of the Indiana Intercollegiate, held Friday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
The performance of Thunder runners earned the team 213 points. Trine was led by Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont./West Yellowstone), who ran a time of 20:29 on the 5K course to finish 32nd overall. Binfet's performance earned the Thunder 30 points. It was the first time Binfet has finished first among the team's runners in her collegiate career. Trine was one of 19 teams to compete in the race, which featured 146 runners competing in the Small States division.
Courtney Forsythe (West Mansfield, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) ran a time of 20:49 to earn the Thunder 42 points. The time was a career-best cross country 5K for the senior. Freshman Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) finished just behind in 20:55 to earn the team 46 points.
Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) and Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) finished within seconds of each other to round out the team's top five. Piekarski finished in 21:02 to earn 47 points, while Ortiz earned 48 points with her time of 21:06.
As a team, Trine's top five runners averaged a time of 20:52. That translates to a 6:43-mile pace.
The Thunder will compete in the MIAA Jamboree at Hope next Saturday, Sept. 26.