Lasceski Leads CMU Women At Chippewa Invitational

Friday, October 22

Shepherd, Mich.

5:30 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Chippewa Invitational

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

10/22/2021 8:11:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

Photo Gallery

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

SHEPHERD, Mich. -- Lauren Lasceski ran a personal best in finishing in fourth place on Friday to lead the Central Michigan women's cross country team at the Chippewa Invitational at Shepherd High School.

The meet served as a way for CMU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jenny Swieton to see the younger members of her women's squad run under competitive conditions.

Toledo's men's and women's teams also partook in the meet with all the runners competing together. No team scores were kept.

Lasceski, a sophomore, finished the 5K race in 19:19.7. The Chippewas are scheduled to compete in the Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 30 in Ypsilanti and hosted by Eastern Michigan.

"It was just a great opportunity for some of the women who aren't going to the MAC to get another chance to compete and see what they have," Swieton said. "We had a really good day. They were aggressive and they competed well; just had fun with it.

"I think especially for the freshmen that competed today, it's good to get the number of races in that they got in (this season.) You don't want them to only have one or two races on a season and not realize what cross country in college is all about. I think you could tell; they get better every single time they get out there.

"It was fun to watch them compete and run with a little bit more confidence and be a little bit more aggressive and just have fun out there."

Also for CMU, Haley Hegenauer was fifth (19:34.4), Shannon Billette placed sixth (19:44.8), Lexie Jorgens finished eighth (19:49.7), Alexa Davis was ninth (20:02.2), Morgan Crompton finished 10th (20:11.7), and Natalie Wehner came in 11th (20:29.8).

Billette, Crompton and Wehner are freshmen, while Hegenauer, like Lasceski, is a sophomore.

"I think the races of the day were by Shannon Billette and Lauren Lasceski, and Hailey Hegenauer had a great race too," Swieton said. "Hegenauer pushed Lasceski the entire race and I think the both of them ran so well because they work together so well."