By Jane Barnett

On November 9, Michigan Running Club (MRun) traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania to compete at the NIRCA Cross Country championship meet. The MRun women battled a very hilly course, and took first place with a score of 83, beating out University of Wisconsin by one point. Michigan regained the title after being upset in 2023, and five consecutive cross country national titles prior. The women were predicted to come in second place, however this performance is a true testament to the effort they put in this season.

Michigan was led by freshman Laney Alig, coming in second with a time of 23.02. Laney has had a great debut club running season, never finishing lower than second in all her NIRCA races.

Next for Michigan was sophomore Analeise Shact who finished 8th with an impressive time of 23.43.90. Coming in third for MRun was freshman Sophie Cloutier who finished in 15th place, with a time of 24.16. Freshman Pallavi Fisher and Sophomore Brenna Wendell worked together the entire race, pushing each other to finish 36th and 38th, respectively, with times of 25.13 and 25.15. Grad student Mackenna Burkholder and Sophomore Rachel Mecca rounded out this speedy championship team finishing 66th and 70th, with times of 25.56 and 26.00. The championship squad had an average time of 24:17, further proving just how dominant this team is.

In further success at NIRCA Nationals, the men’s team also ended the season on the podium in third place with some great runs.

Nearly 70 people traveled with the team, most of them competing in one of the races offered by NIRCA, and this event continues to be a significant and exciting experience for the team members who train hard all Fall semester.