NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's cross country team battled against NCAA Division I, II, and III programs along with NAIA competition at the 43rd annual Notre Dame National Catholic Invitational on a hot and sunny Friday afternoon.

 

The Belles took 14th place at the event overall and were seventh among non-DI programs at the race. Host Notre Dame captured the team title with a team score of 20. NCAA Division II member Lewis placed second with 78 points, and NCAA Division III member Loras was third overall with a score of 118. Saint Mary's posted a team score of 395. Kassie Parker from Loras, who is the reigning NCAA Division III individual national champion, won the individual title in a time of 17:02.06. 

 

Amanda Tracy led the Belles on the day with a time of 20:20.19 and finished 73rd for 58 points going toward the team score. Anna DeMars turned in a collegiate personal record time for a 5k with a 21:03.49, a 24-second improvement upon her previous-best collegiate 5k time, as she placed 103rd and earned 80 points. Susanna Bernovich edged a runner from Saint Francis (Pa.) by three-hundredths of a second to take 107th place (84 points) with a personal record time of 21:09.32.

 

Isabelle Auch and Angela Bannan took 110th and 11th while wrapping up the team score with 86 and 87 points, respectively. Auch turned in a time of 21:11.84 while Bannan powered past a runner from Marquette at the finish for a 21:13.12. Alexa Zeese crossed the finish line with a 21:41.42 for the Belles. Brigid Hull put up her second-consecutive PR of the season as the sophomore ran a 22:06.57 to improve her collegiate-best 5k time by more than 16 seconds while finishing 141st. 

 

Carly Davis turned in a 22:18.87 and finished 151st. Julia Bobosky pushed herself through a strong kick at the finish for a 22:33.57 and 157th place, and teammate Mary Weber was less than a second behind with a time of 22:34.25 for 158th. Mikayla Trumbla crossed the finish line in a time of 23:23.98 for 173rd. Julia Crowley wrapped up the team efforts on the day with a 23:39.35 for 174th.

 

The Belles have a break from racing in their schedule until October 1 when they travel to East Lansing, Michigan for the NCAA Division III Preview meet hosted by Olivet.