MARION, Ind. -- The Trine women's cross country team placed fourth in the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational Friday evening.
The Thunder was able to finish as the top non-NAIA team in the race. Trine was competing in a field of 13 teams, only three of which represented the NCAA Division III level. All five of the team's scoring runners finished among the top 40 in the race. Thunder runners combined to score the team an even 100 points.
Pacing Trine were the duo of Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont. / West Yellowstone) and Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio / Anthony Wayne). Binfet turned in a 5K time of 19:25.5, while Ortize finished one-tenth of a second back. The duo finished 12th and 13th overall respectively. Each runner's time was a personal-best for a cross-country 5K.
Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) finished 18th with a strong performance of her own. Blystone's time of 19:46.6 beat her previous-best cross country 5K time by more than a minute.
Rounding out Trine's top five were Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake) and Samantha Stensland (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern). Piekarski placed 23rd, earning the Thunder 22 points with another personal-best of 19:51.2. Stensland's time of 20:21.2 was also a career-best for a 5K cross country race.
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Trine's next race will be one of two conference meets the Thunder will compete in this season. Trine will travel to the MIAA Jamboree, hosted by Alma Saturday, Sep. 24.
