CHANNAHON, Ill. -- The NAIA No. 22-ranked University of St. Francis women's cross country team began its season on Friday evening, putting together a second-place finish at the team's 5K Fighting Saints Twilight Invite. USF's' score of 43 points was only bested by Governors State University (30) among the nine teams competing.
Juniors
Dyannara Franco and
Carmen Solis paced St. Francis throughout the race and finished back-to-back in the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively. Franco posted a personal record of 18:44.0, while Solis finished at 18:56.2 in her first collegiate race as a Saint. Franco eclipsed her previous best mark by 20.1 seconds.
The next two USF runners finished within five seconds of each other, placing in the Nos. 9 and 11 positions. Leading that duo was
Evita Martinez at 19:47.4. She was followed right behind by
Nicole Vollrath at 19:52.9. Sophomore
Patrycja Mrowca (21st overall) rounded out USF's top five, crossing the finish line at 20:54.7. Mrowca set a PR, as well.
Allison Ramsey was the top alumni performer for USF with her time of 19:41.4, ranking 6th overall.
The top individual performer was Governors State's Sophia Flowers at 18:38.9.
Next Up
The Saints run next on Friday, September 19 at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) National Catholic Invite with competition set to commence at 3:15 pm.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
