by Alan Babbitt
Amid a field of runners from all three NCAA Divisions, Hope College cross country runner Ana Tucker was among the fastest at the Michigan State University Spartan Invitational on Friday.
The junior from Midland, Michigan (H.H Dow HS) clocked a sixth-place, 6K time of 21 minutes, 59.7 seconds at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan.
Tucker recorded the top non-NCAA Division I effort. The entire women's field included 236 runners.
Tucker helped the Flying Dutch place 10th out of 19 teams with 265 points. Michigan State won with 36 points.
Sophomore Rebecca Markham (Hoffman Estates / Fremd) posted Hope's second-fastest run with a 52nd-place time of 23:28.1.
Junior Anna Mason (Zeeland, Michigan / Libertas Christian) finished 90th at 24:18.9.
Junior Ellie Jankowski (Granger, Indiana / Penn) clocked a 98th-place effort of 24:25.1.
Junior Heleyna Tucker of Midland, Michigan (H.H. Dow) placed 109th at 24:46.1 and rounded out the Flying Dutch's scoring.
Sophomore Libby Gorman (Traverse City, Michigan / St. Francis) was 110th at 24:46.5. Freshman Maddy Struck (Grayslake, Illinois / Central) was 134th at 25:16.8.
Hope's next meet is Friday, Oct. 1, at the Lansing Community College Invitational.
