Injuries and inexperience couldn't stop the Michigan women's cross country team from placing three runners in the top 10 in the non-scoring Spartan Invitational on Friday.

Junior Danielle Tauro was the team’s top finisher at Forest Akers East Golf Course, placing second overall with a time of 21:19.

“I felt really good at 3K,” Tauro said. “At 4K, Michigan State started to pick up the pace. I just tried to keep the gap within reasonable distance.”

While the veteran Tauro led the Wolverines, true freshmen Kaitlyn Patterson and Rebecca Addison started their careers off strong in their first-ever six-kilometer race.

Patterson finished ninth at 21:56 and Addison came in 12th at 22:07.

“Kaitlyn is improving leaps and bounds since high school,” Tauro said. “She’s surprising us with how fast she’s running, only being with the team for a few months.”

Michigan head coach Mike McGuire was pleased with the results from the Spartan Invitational.

“Our first three ran a step up from the Michigan Open," McGuire said of the Sept. 4 meet. "Today was like my stocks− a few up, a few down. We are moving forward and progressing with several of them.”

The biggest challenge of the day was running without junior Jenny Morgan and freshman Jill Smith. They pulled out of the lineup due to a cold and calf injury, respectively, but are both expected to return to full strength soon.

“We have a solid team," McGuire said. "It was nice to see some improvement. But with the addition of Jenny and Jill later on, we will be strong through the first four and looking good.”

Tauro feels that by executing the team's strategy of moving in packs and grouping up with teammates, the Wolverines will be competitive this season.

“As long as we continue to move forward, times get faster, and we feed off of each other’s energy, we will be ready to go,” Tauro said.