EAST LANSING, MI – The Johns Hopkins women's cross country team got a preview of the 2022 NCAA Championship course on Friday as the Blue Jays competed at the Spartan Invitational. The Blue Jays, one of just four Division III teams competing, finished in fourth place with 142 points – just 15 points behind top-ranked SUNY Geneseo.  
 
Host Michigan State won the invitational with 19 points, followed by Grand Valley State (71) and Geneseo (127), Hopkins (142) and Cincinnati (156) to round out the top five.
 
Graduate student Alex Ross led the way for the Blue Jays as she finished in sixth place overall, and first among the Division III runners. She crossed the finish line in 21:33.69 to beat Lauren Kiley (unattached) by more than three seconds. Senior Sara Stephenson finished in 15^th place, and third among DIII runners, with a time of 22:05.60.
 
Hopkins placed each of its five scoring runners in the top 70 with senior Sydney Friedel placing 35^th (22:42.34), followed by freshman Viviana Li (23:15.10) in 64^th and freshman Cooper Brotherton (23:20.10) in 68^th.
 
Hopkins returns to action in two weeks at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA.