Junior Allison Kuzma opened the 2026 women's cross country season with a statement victory on Friday, claiming the Michigan State Spartan Invitational crown for the Hillsdale College women's cross country team over multiple top runners from the Big Ten.

As a team, the Chargers placed 12th against a tough field that included seven NCAA Division I programs and three DIII teams ranked in the top 25 in the USTFCCCA poll.

Kuzma, who placed 18th at Forest Akers East in the same meet in 2025, ran with the top pack from the start, and went with MSU lead runner Taylor Pangburn when the decorated Spartan junior broke away in the first half of the race. The race quickly became a two-runner competition for the title, and Kuzma made her move in the next to last kilometer, opening up a gap on Pangburn and rolling to victory in 20:43.7.

The victory against strong competition backs up Kuzma's status as an NCAA DII national title contender in cross country, after earning All-American honors a year ago and also claiming the 5,000m run national title in indoor track and field and the 10,000m run national title in outdoor track and field for the Chargers in the spring of 2026.

Senior Eleanor Clark was next across the line for the Chargers, placing 58th in 22:26.0 in a solid start for Hillsdale, and three sophomores came next to round out the scorers for Hillsdale -- Mavis Banks in 145th place (24:00.0), Taylor Klimp in 169th (24:31.0) and Taylor Brodeur in 191st  (25:09.8) in her first cross country race for the Chargers.

Freshmen Audrey Hartman placed 200th (25:31.4) and Grace Kollstedt took 227th (26:47.6) in their debut races for Hillsdale, while senior Megan Roberts placed 206th (25:53.4) as well for Hillsdale.

The Chargers will look to build off a strong season opening performance in their next meet in two weeks, as Hillsdale travels to Tiffin, Ohio for the G-MAC Preview race on Sept. 25. It'll be an opportunity for the Chargers to get familiar with Tiffin's cross country course, which will host the G-MAC Championship meet later in the campaign on November 7.