ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After spending a day at Niagara Falls, Macomb Cross Country made the trip to Rochester, N.Y., Saturday (Sept. 26) morning to compete in the 37th annual Harry F. Anderson Invitational, hosted by Roberts Wesleyan University. The trip was packed full of great memories and the sixth-ranked women's cross country team capped it off with an impressive showing against top competition. 

Behind a host of PRs, the Monarchs placed ninth overall out of an 18-team field that mainly consisted of NCAA Division II and Division III competition. The Monarchs posted a team score of 279 to take down several NCAA programs and top a fellow NJCAA Region XII school by nearly 30 points. 

McKenna Richard led the Monarchs individually, running a personal best 19:33.5 in the 5K race to finish 31st. Mercy Brown also had a PR, running 19:49.4 to place 44th. 

The personal bests didn't stop there as Ava Johnson ran a PR 20:20.6 to finish 70th while Emma Miller recorded a PR of 20:26.5 to cross the finish line in 75th place. Amanda Dickinson capped off the scoring for the Monarchs with a 127th place finish and personal best time of 21:59.7. 

Jessica Davis ran a PR time of 22:18.3 to finish 133rd while sophomore Erin Leverenz crossed the line in 152nd place with a PR time of 23:23.6. Lisaleen Ung was the final Monarch to finish on what was a stellar day overall, running 24:30.9 to place 161st. 

Following another strong performance, the Monarchs now turn their attention toward next Friday's (Oct. 2) MCCAA Eastern Conference Championship. In what is always an ultra-competition women's MCCAA East race, the Monarchs are aiming to go for the 'three-peat' after taking home the league title in 2024 and 2025. The conference championship race gets underway at 12 p.m. Friday from Stony Creek Metropark's Eastwood Beach.