Today the Calvin women's cross-country team competed in two different meets. One group of runners competed in the Interregional Invitational hosted by Augustana College in Little Rock, Illinois while the other group stayed more local to make an appearance at the Jayhawk Invitational in Muskegon, Michigan.
 
The Knights kicked off their jam-packed day at the Interregional Invitational where they took sixth place and finished with a team score of 247. The team worked from behind and closed out the race strong when they jumped up three places in the final 1500m. Calvin finished in front of many top ranked team such as Wartburg, John Carroll, and rival Hope College. Wisconsin-La Crosse finished in the top spot while University of Chicago and Washington University rounded out the top three.
 
Senior Hailey Erickson (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) was the top finisher for the Knights when she claimed 35th place with a time of 21:54.8. Sophomore Emma Wierenga (Grafton, Mass./Whitinsville Christian) was close behind in 38th place and a time of 22:00.0 while fellow sophomore Ayla Holben (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) recorded a time of 22:21.8.
 
The Knights rounded out their scoring with junior Ellia Agar (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) and sophomore Jonathah Bouwman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Universidad of Catolica San Pablo) who finished with times of 22:22.0 and 22:24.0, respectively.
 
Junior Alexis Ball (Grand Rapids, Mich./Traverse City Central) also competed in the field and finished with a time of 22:36.3 while freshman Kihra Moes (South Holland, Ill./Chicago Christian) recorded a time of 22:40.7.
 
Back on the home front in Muskegon, the Knights finished with a team score of 260 and claimed eighth place. Grand Valley State, Aquinas, and Hope College finished in the top three spots.
 
The Knights were led by junior Sara Huyser (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) who crossed the finish line at 21:10.6 in 43rd place. Freshman Ava Krohn (Fremont, Mich./Fremont) was close behind when she finished in 46th place with a time of 21:15.7 while junior Isabella Lingenfelter (Nobelville, Ind./Nobelville) took 55th place when she finished at 21:41.4.
 
Junior duo Sarah Timmer (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) (21:41.9) and Ava Vlietstra (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) (21:43.5) rounded out scoring for the Knights when they took 56th place and 60th place, respectively.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "The gold race set the tone for a superb day of racing," said Nicole Kramer. "I was very impressed with Hailey and Emma's races today. They got out well, and worked through the second half of the race together. Not far behind, our chase pack battled hard, and we had another phenomenal 1-5 split of 30 seconds. We met our main team goals for the day, and set ourselves up for what's sure to be an exciting championship season ahead!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, October 31st when they compete in the MIAA Cross Country Championships in Albion, Michigan. The time of the meet has yet to be announced.