The Valparaiso women’s cross country team ran Saturday morning at the Horizon League Championship in Milford, Mich., running to a ninth-place team finish.

The Crusaders tallied 220 points on the day, outpacing Cleveland State in the team standings by seven points.  Butler earned the team championship with 21 total points, led by individual champion Lauren McKillop.

For the second straight race, the Valpo women were paced by senior Sara Christensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley), who placed 36th Saturday with a time of 20:45.9 over the 5K course.  Senior Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) followed close behind, crossing the line in 21:02.5, good for 44th place.

Senior Lindsey Gilman (South Bend, Ind./Marian) was the next Crusader across the line, coming home in 50th place with a time of 21:13.0.  Senior Caitlin Sauerhage (Rising Sun, Ind./Rising Sun [Indiana]) covered the course in 21:21.4, good for 54th place, while senior Whitney Bowman (Portage, Ind./Portage [Purdue]) rounded out Valpo’s top-five runners with a 59th-place showing, finishing in 21:44.1.

Valparaiso will return to the course on Saturday, November 14, traveling downstate to Bloomington to take part in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.  The women’s 6K regional race is scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. CST.