The Belles cross country team finished 11th out of 19 teams this past Saturday at the Gil Dodds Invitational at the St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Illinois.
Saint Mary’s competed against opponents from all across the Midwest, facing off against teams including Aurora University, Depauw University, Illinois Wesleyan, Wheaton College, the University of Wisconsin Platteville, Illinois Tech, Carroll University, Manchester University, North Central, Carthage College, Lake Forest, Concordia University, Roosevelt University, Judson University, Elmhurst College, Beloit College, Moraine Valley College and Dominican University.
Depauw won the 6K women’s race in a blowout with just 37 points, followed by Wheaton with 95 points in a distant second place. UW-Platteville finished third with 114 points, Illinois Wesleyan ranked fourth with 135 and Aurora rounded out the top five with 192 points.
Sophomore Savannah Paulson led the Belles through the verdant grasslands and rolling hills for a 43rd-place finish, completing the course in 24 minutes, 43.3 seconds. Sophomore Cecilia Conrad and freshman Allie Glendening also placed in the top 50, finishing in 48th (24:55.1) and 50th place (24:56.3) respectively.
Closely following Conrad and Glending, senior Susanna Bernovich and sophomore Jordan Siminski finishing 61st and 71st in the race. Right behind them, junior Isabella Auch, freshman Hannah Walsh and junior Mary Weber finished 75th, 76th and 77th.
The 90th runner to cross the finish line, sophomore Anna Scannell was the last Belle to finish inside the top 100. Graduate student Sarah Harman, sophomore Josie DeWine and freshman Alexandra Brunswick finished minutes later in the 124th, 178th and 187th place respectively.
Conrad, Paulson and Glendening currently set the pace for all Belle runners, averaging sub-20 minute finishes across the last three meets that Saint Mary’s has competed in.
The Belles now have a two week break before traveling to Terre Haute, Indiana to compete in the Pre-Nationals Twilight Meet at the LaVern Gibson Course. The race is set to start at 9pm.
