With portions of the team in Illinois and Kansas, the Colorado Christian women's cross country took a big step forward as the regular season concluded.

The Cougars competed at Lewis Crossover and Fort Hays State Tiger Open on Saturday morning.

LEWIS CROSSOVER

The Cougars claimed a third place finish in Romeoville as the program beat six nationally ranked teams. They tallied 125 points in registering the quality result.

Grand Valley State, who came into the meet ranked second in the latest USTFCCA poll, won the event with 36 points. The host Flyers were the team runner-up with 106 points.

In a field stack with numerous nationally ranked teams, the tied-21st Cougars knocked off a handful of top 30 teams. They beat No. 18 Walsh, No. 19 Minnesota Duluth, No. 21 Cal State San Marcos, No. 24 Wayne State, No. 26 Saginaw Valley State and No. 27 Biola.  

For Colorado Christian their top three runners all placed in the top 15. Paige Tack was the team's top finisher as the sophomore finished in 22:21.80 as the fifth overall competitor in the race. Shannon King was just behind her as she notched a time of 22:33.30 to place 12th in the 6K race.

Alysia Wagner continued her solid freshman campaign as she raced to a 15th place finish with a time of 22:43.0. Christy Shuster ended the race with a time of 22:57.20 as the 25th finisher. In her first race of the season Elizabeth Mattson (23:51.0) made an immediate impact as the team's fifth scorer.

The team has registered a top three finish in each of three races they have competed after winning the JK Gold Classic to start the season then finishing third at the Roadrunner Invitational three weeks ago.

FORT HAYS STATE TIGER OPEN

Competing in the Black Race, the Cougars placed ninth in the 16-team field.

Ana Muehlbauer had the best time for the team as she placed 20th overall with a time of 19:45.7. Benisa Ellis clocked a 19:53.0 for the squad's second best time as she was the 26th finisher in the 5K race.

Newcomer Sarah Hamlin (20:56.9) put together a quality effort as the third scoring competitor for the team. Jordyn Gutridge and Sierra Hellman rounded out the top five as they ran times of 22:05.4 and 22:59.9 respectively.

UP NEXT: The Cougars will race at the RMAC Championship hosted by Colorado School of Mines at Applewood Golf Course on Oct. 23.