BOURBONNAIS, ILL.  --  Sophomore Evonne Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) finished as the individual champion and led the Trine University women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Midwest Intercollegiate Championships hosted by Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Trine posted a team score of 62 points to place second of 11 teams.

Bultemeyer recorded the top overall time amongst 129 total runners with a mark of 18:46.96.  Senior Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) also placed in the top-10 in eighth place after completing the 5K course in a time of 19:31.29.

The Thunder had two other runners came in the top-20 in freshman Chloe Brittain (Wheeler, Mich./Breckenridge) and sophomore Elizabeth Loman (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll).  Brittain had the 12th fastest time of 19:57.88 and Loman came in 19th place after turning in a time of 20:10.85.

Sophomore Ruthie Luebke (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) ran a time of 20:22.47 to come in 24th place and was followed by sophomore Stacy Dibley (Bristol, Ind./Elkhart Central) who had a time of 20:59.02 which was good enough for 35th place. 

The final team scoring time was posted by freshman Madi Howard (Stockbridge, Mich./Stockbridge) who crossed the finish line in 59th place with a mark of 21:56.38.

In addition, Trine sophomore Miranda Coombs (Lexington, Mich./Croswell-Lexington) finished three spots behind Howard in 62nd place after running a time of 22:02.07.  

"The women's team ran great," said Head Coach Zach Raber.  "There was some significant wind but they ran smart and didn't let it affect their races. Evie made a strong move at the finish to pick up a nice win. All of the girls did VERY well today."

Trine is scheduled to compete in the Oshkosh Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday, Oct. 13 in Oshkosh, Wis.  The women's race is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. EST.