Madi Szymanski, a sophomore at Northern Michigan University, represented her school at the NCAA Division II Championships and finished 65th out of over 260 runners in a field. She completed the six-kilometer course in an impressive time of 21 minutes and 6.2 seconds. Throughout the race, Szymanski made great strides, moving up from 91st at the 1K mark to 73rd at the 5K mark.

The Alpena native had an outstanding season, earning All-GLIAC honors and All-Region recognition for her impressive performance on the track. Szymanski’s personal record time for a 6K improved three times throughout the season, with a time of 20:55.83 at the regionals being her best finish yet. NMU cross country coach Jenny Ryan praised Szymanski for her incredible season and hard work, stating that she was a valuable member of their team.

Despite Szymanski’s impressive individual performance, Grand Valley State took home the team title for the seventh time in program history with all five of their top runners finishing inside the first 30.