KENOSHA, Wis. – In a field of 210 runners at Saturday's Lucian Rosa Invite, Northern Michigan's Ella DeBruyn made her way to the front of the pack late in the race and never looked back, capturing the first individual victory of her collegiate career.

DeBruyn crossed the finish line in 22:12.84 to claim the top spot, finishing 2.7 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Sitting in second place at the halfway point, DeBruyn used a 5:58 pace to move into the lead late and secure the milestone victory.

"We had a solid team performance today and Ella ran an awesome race," said head coach Jenny Ryan. "She ran very smart, was patient throughout the first 4km of the race, and then slowly pulled in the leader passing her with 400 meters to go for the win."

It was Northern's first individual meet champion since September 9, 2023, when Madi Szymanski took home top honors at the 5K Northwood Invite.

Lamar Gordon also turned in a strong performance, placing fourth with a time of 22:42.64 at a 6:05 pace. Ashley Choponis followed in eighth place, clocking a time of 22:51.54 at a 6:08 pace. DeBruyn, Gordon, and Choponis were among just 10 runners in the field to finish under 23 minutes.

Lola Korpi finished 27th in 23:42.18, followed by Ava Jones in 30th with a time of 23:42.18 and Dani VanLente in 33rd at 23:51.54. Anya VanSweden rounded out the Wildcat scoring with a 56th-place finish in 24:20.76.

Behind DeBruyn's individual triumph, the Wildcats claimed second place among 20 teams/clubs with 66 points. Cedarville captured the team title with 38 points, while Wayne State finished third with 99.

The full results can be found here.


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The Wildcats will be off for a week before heading to Detroit to take part in the Warrior Challenge on Saturday, October 24.