ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Harding women's cross-country team split its squad to compete in two different states Saturday, with freshman Vivien Kipkorir leading the Lady Bisons with a top-15 finish at the highly competitive Lewis Crossover. Another group of runners competed at the University of the Ozarks Invitational in Clarksville, Arkansas.

Lewis Crossover

In a field featuring 36 teams, many nationally ranked, Harding placed 26th with 634 points. No. 15 Chico State won the meet with 100 points.

The 6K race was held at the Lewis Cross Country Course. Kipkorir continued her stellar freshman campaign, finishing 15th out of 335 runners. She crossed the line in a personal-best time of 21:57.03.  

Senior Josie Parks was the second Lady Bison to finish, placing 112th in 23:11.99. She was followed by freshman Addison Lyles (145th, 23:32.59), senior Kaia Bieker (215th, 24:20.67), and senior Jaclyn Weilnau, who rounded out the scoring in 225th with a season-best time of 24:37.19.

Four other Harding runners also recorded personal or season-best times at the meet.

University of the Ozarks Invitational

In Clarksville, Harding finished third of four teams with 68 points in the 5K event. The host, University of the Ozarks, won with 26 points.

Sophomore Juliah Rodgers was Harding's top finisher, placing 11th with a time of 20:53.3.

In her collegiate debut, freshman Lauren Verslues finished 14th in 21:34.5. She was closely followed by senior Ella Mast (16th, 21:39.4) and senior Amy Stewart (17th, 21:49.0). Freshman Anna Kate Yale, also making her Harding debut, finished 20th in 22:08.3.
 

Harding's next race is the Great American Conference Championships on Oct. 25 in Monticello, Arkansas.