Saint Mary's will return to Calvin in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday.
The Belles will try to continue their successful run following a third-place finish in their most recent competition, the MIAA Championships.
In that 6-kilometer race, senior Jessica Biek propelled the Belles and set a personal record for the second consecutive race. Biek pulled off her ninth-place finish and continued her streak of first-place finishes among the Belles with a time of 22:46.
With momentum on its side, Saint Mary's will attempt to beat formidable competition and its 19th-place finish from just a year ago at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships. By comparison, Biek's personal-best time would have been good for 30th last year. On Saturday, Biek will run her last race with the Belles.
Additionally, Saint Mary's will face two of the region's top teams in Calvin and Hope for the second consecutive race.
Earlier this month at the aforementioned MIAA Championships, Calvin won decisively with only one team, Hope, within 80 points of its final score. Calvin senior Nicole Michmerhuizen finished second on the team with a time of 22:13. Calvin freshman Cassie Vince also starred for this week's host with an individual first-place finish with a blazing time of 21:36.
Outside of Calvin and Hope, however, Saint Mary's figures to be very much in the competitive mix. In contrast with last year's team, the Belles' time in their last race (1:58:40) would have been fast enough to finish in 13th at last year's regionals.
Saint Mary's has continually improved on its 6-kilometer time this year, finishing with faster times each time they've run over the entirety of the season.
Saint Mary's concludes its season with the Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich., at 11 a.m.
Contact Cole Schietinger at cschieti@nd.edu
