CHARLOTTE, Mich. - The Saint Mary's cross country squad had a strong team showing, powered by several fast individual performances at the Olivet Comet Open to begin the 2023 season on Friday.

 

Amanda Tracy was near the front of the pack from start to finish, and the senior opened her year with a monster personal record time of 19:10.1 - an improvement upon her previous 5k personal record time by a minute and ten seconds - to place fourth overall in the field of 99 runners.

 

Savannah Paulson made an immediate impact for the Belles in her first collegiate race by finishing 20th overall with a 20:32.3 on the day. Susanna Bernovich collected a personal record 5k time after shaving off 42 seconds off of last year's PR with a 20:51.8 on Friday evening and finishing 24th.

 

Jordan Siminski just missed out on breaking below the 21-minute plateau in her first collegiate 5k as the freshman also contributed to the team score with a 21:00.9 for 26th place. Haley Greene turned in a personal record time of 21:20.1 for 32nd place to improve upon her PR from her sophomore season by 17 seconds.

 

Isabelle Auch turned in a time of 21:34.1 to place 37th, and Sarah Harman edged an Adrian runner by two-tenths of a second with a 22:02.4 to place 45th. Mary Weber joined in on the personal-best performances with a PR of 22:10.3 - a 24-second improvement from last season - to place 51st. Ellie York wrapped up the Saint Mary's efforts on the day with a 22:19.4 for 56th place. 

 

The Belles are off from competition until Saturday, September 16 when they race in the Gil Dodds Invitational hosted by Wheaton (Ill.) at the St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Illinois.