EAST LANSING, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's cross-country team kicked off its 2026 campaign when its competed in the Spartan Invitational. The Knights cracked the top ten when they posted a team score of 308 while host Michigan State took the top spot with a score of 40.
 
The Knights were led by sophomore Emma Wierenga (Grafton, Mass./Whitinsville Christian) when she finished in seventy-fourth place with a time of 22:43.6 while fellow sophomore Ayla Holben (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) was close behind with a time of 22:53.9. Senior Hailey Erickson (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) was the next Calvin runner to cross the finish line at 22:58.0.
 
The next pack of Knights was led by junior Alexis Ball (Grand Rapids, Mich./Traverse City Central) when she finished with a time of 23:18.8 and was followed closely by freshman Kihra Moes (South Holland, Ill./Chicago Christian) (23:28.8) and junior Ellia Agar (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) (23:31.2).
 
Sophomore Jonathah Bouwman (Grand Rapids, Mich./Universidad of Catolica San Pablo) rounded out the scoring for the Knights when she finished with a time of 23:34.2.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "We've had a great preseason and start to the semester, and I'm happy with how the women kicked off the season this morning," said head coach Nicole Kramer. "This is a competitive meet to have as our opener, and with it being our regional meet here in November, we knew it would be beneficial to gain experience on this course. 
 
We moved up well throughout much of the race, with our front four working very well with each other. It was exciting to see our freshmen start off their college careers on positive notes, with Kihra Moes stepping into the top five. We have some tweaks to make and much more ahead, with Knight Invite up next!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, September 19th when they host the Knight Invite at 10 AM.