Olivia Ippel, No. 14 Women’s Cross Country Shine at MSU Spartan Invitational

Led by senior Olivia Ippel, the 14th-ranked Hope College women's cross country team sprinted to an eighth-place finish at Friday's Michigan State University Spartan Invitational and recorded the top effort among the NCAA Division III teams on the course.

Ippel (St. Joseph, Michigan / St. Joseph) recorded the fastest time among Division III entrants, placing 47th in the 283-runner field after crossing the finish line at 22 minutes, 16.2 seconds.

The Flying Dutch totaled 255 points — 39 ahead of ninth-place John Carroll University. Michigan State won the 24-team meet with 40 points, edging runner-up University of Toledo by two points. The meet was held at the site of this season's NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional in November.

The Orange and Blue placed four more runners in the Top 100.

Junior Mary England (Kalamazoo, Michigan / Kalamazoo Central) posted a 67th-place effort of 22:34.4.

Sophomore Anna Sybenga (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Central) recorded a 71st-place time of 22:40.3.

Sophomore Miranda Sawvel (Laramie, Wyoming / Centennial) clocked an 85th-place run of 23:00.0.

Freshman Abigail Lewis (Barrington, Illinois / Normal Community) took 96th at 23:12.8.

Sophomore Taylor Mitchell (Otsego, Michigan / Otsego) finished 111th at 23:24.7.

Freshman Naomi Diekman (Grandville, Michigan / Wyoming) was 116th at 23:30.8.

Hope races next on Friday, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. at Western Michigan University's George Dales Invitational.

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Players Mentioned

Mary England: Junior; Exercise Science

Olivia Ippel: Senior; Communication

Taylor Mitchell: Sophomore

Miranda Sawvel: Sophomore

Anna Sybenga: Sophomore

Naomi Diekman: Freshman

Abigail Lewis: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Mary England
: Junior; Exercise Science

Olivia Ippel
: Senior; Communication

Taylor Mitchell
: Sophomore

Miranda Sawvel
: Sophomore

Anna Sybenga
: Sophomore

Naomi Diekman
: Freshman

Abigail Lewis
: Freshman