College of DuPage women's cross country participated in the Aurora College Spartan Classic at Northwestern Medicine XC course in Geneva, IL on Saturday, Sept. 13. DuPage secured a third-place team finish. 

Freshman Jessica Balmer paced the Chaparrals with a 14th-place time of 27:25.7, followed closely by sophomore Maureen Bluemle in 15th at 27:27.0. Both placed in the top 15 of a competitive field. 

Sophomore Samantha Blankenship crossed in 28:36.4 to finish 27th, while Alison Pasdiora (31st, 30:18.1) and Brianna Pellgrini (33rd, 30:49.5) rounded out the scoring lineup. 

The Chaps finished third overall out of four teams, trailing only four-year programs in the standings. COD's effort highlighted the tams' depth, with all five scoring runners placing the top 35. 

"NW Medicine is a challenging course with a lot of hills but our kids were ready for that with our training and came out top junior college on both sides only losing to NCAA D3 and D2 schools," stated Chaps head coach Mallory Dominguez. "The women are looking stronger every week and it will be really exciting to see it all come together when we race all 7." 

DuPage will race again this Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Dodds Invite, racing at the St. James Farm Forest Preserve.