Belles Take Fifteenth at Knight Invitational
- Belles finish 15th out of 25, less than 10 points away from 12th place
- Brittany Beeler, Kaitlyn Alessi, Anna McClowry, and Maggie Pacana earned collegiate PRs
- Alessi and McClowry each improved their PRs by 20+ seconds
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's cross country team claimed 15th place in a field of 25 teams and more than 200 runners at the Calvin Knight Invitational on Saturday.
NAIA No. 4 ranked Aquinas won the team title with a score of 78. Host and No. 8 ranked Calvin was second with a 115, and No. 9 ranked Hope was third with a 123. The Belles scored a 370 and were just four points behind 14th place Alma, seven points back of 13th place Madonna, and eight points off of 12th place Huntington.
Kaitlyn Alessi had a
big PR on Saturday.Brittany Beeler led the Belles with a 30th place finish in a time of 19:03.4 for a new collegiate 5k personal record time. Aubrey Penn finished 68th overall with a 19:47.9. Allie Danhof crossed the finish line 82nd in 20:05.2 for the Belles. Adele Edmonds and Kaitlyn Alessi wrapped up the team scoring finishes with 93rd (20:14.9) and 97th (20:20.0), respectively. Alessi's time was nearly a 25-second improvement upon her collegiate 5k PR - a 20:44.9 at the Calvin Invite her freshman season.
Katelyn Dunn and Mary Philbin were not far behind the pack. Dunn ran a 20:29.6 to finish 101st, and Philbin crossed the line in 20:37.7 for 105th. Emily Harrast and Colleen Ogren finished within a second of one another with times of 20:59.8 and 21:00.3, respectively. Anna McClowry had a collegiate 5k PR with a 21:03.8 for a 23-second improvement upon her time at the same race a season ago.
Caitlin Blum crossed the finish line in a time of 21:23.1 while Meghan Allen was the Belles' 12th finisher with a 21:31.8. Kathryn Marshall ran a 21:37.0, and Colleen Burke was right behind her with a 21:39.0. Maggie Pacana put together the Belles' fourth PR of the day with a 21:45.4 to cut her best 5k time by nine seconds. Sarah Allen rounded out the Saint Mary's efforts on the day with a 22:11.6.
The Belles compete next on Friday, September 18 at the Spartan Invitational hosted by Michigan State University.