She finished the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course that ran near Lake Superior in 18 minutes, 34.8 seconds. Weather conditions were reported as warm and muggy.

The collegiate part of the race included 24 members of the women’s cross country team at NMU, with 21 of them finishing the course.

Runner-up not quite 15 seconds behind Szymanski was Wildcats freshman Ashley Choponis in 18:48.7, while rounding out the top five was junior Lamar Gordon, third in 18:54.0, junior Emma Sweeney, fourth in 19:04.7, and senior Sophia Potter, fifth in 19:13.6.

From Upper Peninsula high schools, the top finisher was Maija Maki-Warne, a former Marquette Senior High School athlete, who finished seventh in 19:32.9.

Northern Michigan University’s Lola Korpi of Ishpeming, left, and Ella DeBruyn, right front, run together in the collegiate part of the Wildcat Open cross country meet held on campus in Marquette on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)

In addition, sophomore Lola Korpi of Ishpeming was ninth in 19:48.6, sophomore Abby Harma of Marquette 17th in 21:51.3, junior Attica Brandt of Menominee 18th in 22:07.8, freshman Monet Argeropolous 19th in 22:15.7 and sophomore Taryn Maki of Dollar Bay 21st in 23:24.4.

With this being Northern’s only home meet of the fall season, the Wildcats’ first intercollegiate competition will be at the Phoenix Open hosted by Wisconsin-Green Bay in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Story contents based on examination of the Superior Timing website, www.superiortiming.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.