SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Dayton women's cross country team took second place at the 39
th National Catholic Invitational Friday afternoon at the Burk Golf Course at Notre Dame.
The Flyers had a team score of 43, right behind No. 9 nationally-ranked Notre Dame, who had a team score of 34. Dayton finished ahead of Marquette, and Atlantic 10 conference foes Saint Louis, Duquesne and St. Bonaventure.
UD was led by senior
Emily Leonard, who finished fourth in a time of 17:40.7. Sophomore
Chloe Flora was close behind in fifth place in a time of 17:51.4.
Taylor Vernot (9
th),
Emily Borchers (13
th) and
Nicole Steinbicker (25
th) finished in the top 25 of
COACH ORDWAY'S QUOTE
"Our women's team had a strong day. We just finished second by nine points to Notre Dame, who is one of the top 10 programs in the country. The women went out and perfectly executed the strategy we laid out. From top to bottom, our women had a really gutsy day. They fought the whole way in the race and nobody gave up. They had their eyes set on other teams and we really just set out to beat as many of them as we could and it really paid off for us today. The caliber at this race is very strong and for us to get the second-place finish and really gap ourselves on the third, fourth, and fifth-place teams. With some of those being ranked or in the conference, it shows the mentality we have right now. We just feel really good moving into these next couple meets and the postseason. We feel like we can compete with a lot of other teams. I'm really proud of the team today. They showed a lot of poise and maturity. We are looking forward to getting a couple more weeks of training in and getting back to the next race. "
The Flyers have another squad who will compete at the Friendship Invitational Saturday, Sept. 16 at 10:15 a.m.
TEAM RESULTS
1. Notre Dame – 34
2. DAYTON – 43
3. Marquette – 80
4. Saint Louis – 102
5. Duquesne – 130
6. Holy Cross – 138
7. Canisius – 188
8. DePaul – 222
9. Detroit Mercy – 262
10. St. Bonaventure – 272
11. Mount St. Mary's – 312
FLYER INDIVIDUAL FINISHES
