Grant Lofdahl Head Coach | Wayne State University Athletics Website
Grant Lofdahl Head Coach | Wayne State University Athletics Website
The Wayne State University women's cross country team finished second at the 2025 Warrior Challenge, held at Willow Metropark in New Boston, Michigan, on Friday. The squad earned 45 points, with the University of Findlay winning the event by scoring 37 points.
The final team standings placed Saginaw Valley State in third with 49 points, followed by Cornerstone, Spring Arbor, Northwood, Madonna, Adrian, Michigan-Dearborn, and Montcalm Community College.
Freshman Ava Peters was Wayne State's top runner, securing a second-place finish with a time of 22:33.00. Anna Gdowski crossed next for Wayne State at 22:56.70. Aubrey Migoski and Robin Bresolin finished in 11th and 12th place with times of 23:09.30 and 23:09.40 respectively. Emilee Rudlaff rounded out the team's top five scorers with a time of 23:19.90 for a 14th-place finish.
Other Wayne State finishers included Ella Showerman (18th), Meagan Verellen (25th), Taylor Hopkins (28th), Sydney Smith (33rd), Reese Hansen (35th), Kendall Sears (36th), Sarah Greb (37th), Remi Flanz (41st), Jessica Denver (58th), and Katie Rohrer (60th).
Head coach Grant Lofdahl commented on the end of the team's run of six consecutive Warrior Challenge titles: "All good things must come to an end, and our string of Warrior Challenge titles finally stopped at six. Credit to Findlay, they have an excellent team and they performed extremely well."
Lofdahl also praised his athletes' performances: "Ava (Peters) is having a very impressive start to her collegiate career, and her time of 22:33 tied the Willow Metropark debut of recently graduated WSU all-American Reagan Justice when she was a freshman. Ava raced like an experience veteran today, as did Anna Gdowski who is only a redshirt sophomore. Anna and Emilee Rudlaff made the difference between us being third or second, as they both passed several runners in the last kilometer to help us edge out SVSU. Our depth was exceptional today, with big breakthrough races from Ella Showerman, Meagan Verellen, and Reese Hansen among others."
He added about the team's effort: "We had a few struggles on the course, but certainly a lot more good in this race than bad. The amount of Warrior fan support was off the charts, and our team greatly appreciates all of the support out there!"
Wayne State will compete next at the Lucian Rosa Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday, September 27.
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