The Belles held their 3rd annual Saint Mary's College Alumnae Race Saturday for friendly competition between former and current members of the team to prepare for the upcoming regular season.
"The alumnae race was fun despite the rain and cooler weather," Belles coach Jackie Bauters said. "The race ended up being about fifteen alumnae against the team."
Though this event did not count towards the regular season for the Belles, it provided a chance for the girls to experience their home course before their MIAA conference events commence.
"I thought we saw some nice improvements from some of the girls on the course since we raced against Goshen," Bauters said. "It was nice to see them working hard although there was limited competition."
Improvement was particularly noticeable at the front of the lineup, as each of the top three Saint Mary's runners shaved two minutes off of their total time since the team's first two invitational races against Goshen and Wabash.
Belles runners Junior Joanne Almond (21:01), sophomore Julia Kenney (21:12) and senior Sam Wassel (21:15) were the first competitors to cross the finish line.
The Alumnae Race marked the end of the Belles' preseason. In this week of practice, they will focus on staying healthy for their first competitive meet, the Calvin University Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich. Saturday.
"This week is another week towards our end goal of performing well at the end of the season at championships," said Bauters. "We will be looking to have our first competitive 5K."
