LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The NAIA No. 3-ranked University of St. Francis women's cross country team placed four runners among the Top 50 in a field of 422 competitors overall on Saturday morning enabling the Saints to turn in an impressive sixth-place showing at the Live In Lou Cross Country Classic.
There was only one NAIA team that finished above the Saints and that was No. 2-ranked Taylor University, which claimed the meet title with its 67 points. The Trojans had four individuals finish in the Top 20.
After that, the only other teams better than USF were NCAA I Xavier University, Ohio (111 points), NCAA II Grand Valley State University, Mich. (121), NCAA I Mississippi State University (179) and NCAA II University of Tampa, Fla. (221).
The Saints totaled 262 points, which was 83 points lower than the sixth-place team.
Ana Mendoza Pineda led a four-person USF contingent that was bunched together between the No. 36 and 46 positions. She recorded a time of 18:32.8 on the 5K course.
Two spots in back of Pineda and just one second behind was
Katherine Bakken in 38th place. She crossed the finish line in 18:33.9.
Bailey Wilk and
Allison Ramsey, meanwhile, were separated by just two runners. Wilk ran an 18:36.2 to place 43rd with Ramsey using her time of 18:39.4 to place 46th.
Capping off the scoring for the Saints was
Olivia Bukowski, who posted a time of 19:10.9 to place No. 101.
Huntington's Addy Wiley, just a freshman, gained the individual meet title with a time of 17:26.1.
Notes: Pineda claimed the top time for the Saints for the second straight meet … USF has placed in the top 25 percent of finishing teams in each of its first three meets this season highlighted by finishing in the Top 12 percent on Saturday … Bukowski's appearance on the trails was her first of the year … The Saints will go up against another group of elite teams when they compete in the Aquinas College (Mich.) NAIA Great Lakes Challenge in three weeks (Oct. 22).
Links to live timing when available can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on Twitter @USFSaints.
