The Ferris State University men’s and women’s cross country teams finished up the conference season at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships this weekend.
The men’s team finished fourth in the tournament which is the highest finish ever for the Bulldogs.
“It was really exciting, nobody was disappointed. The course was really muddy so it took guts, and it was just a great way to finish off the season,” FSU sophomore runner David Silversmith said.
Junior Tyler Crossman led the Bulldogs as he finished the race in eighth place overall with a time of 26:09.30. Senior Alex Best, Silversmith and junior Ryan Chute all contributed strong performances as they rounded out the top 30 finishers in the competition.
“We improved so much over the summer, and we need to keep doing the little things that other programs are not doing,” Silversmith said.
The women’s team also had a great competition as they finished second overall behind Grand Valley State University. GVSU took first place in both the men’s and women’s competition.
“Going into GLIACS, we knew Grand Valley State University was our toughest competition,” FSU sophomore runner Brittany Anderson said. “However, our team ran well and worked together to make the second place finish possible.”
Senior Tina Muir propelled the Bulldogs to second place with a fantastic effort as she averaged a 5:43 mile.
Muir captured the women’s individual championship with a time of 21:18.60 for the 6K race. She finished approximately 20 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
“I was really proud of Tina, she worked really hard to accomplish her goal to be a champion,” Anderson said.
Junior Anna Rudd, junior Alyssa Osika and junior Shelby Janutol also finished in the top 20 for the Bulldogs.
Next on tap for the Bulldogs is the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship on Nov. 5, hosted by. FSU. The race will be their last before the NCAA-II National Championships on Nov. 19 in Spokane, Wash.