WARRENVILLE, Ill. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Women's Cross Country team received several strong performances en route to a fifth-place finish at the Benedictine Eagle Invitational Friday afternoon.
The Falcons had six runners post PRs in the 6K meet held at St. James Farm Forest Preserve. Leading the way once again for CUW was freshman Bethany Coop (Mora, Minn.). Mora ran a 23:18.00, which was a new personal-best time and was also good enough for a 12th-place finish in the 181-competitor field.
Two CUW runners set new PRs by over two minutes in junior Jessica Rice (Canton, Mich.) and freshman Hannah Kruk (Waukesha, Wis.). Rice, who set a new PR two weeks ago at the Roy Griak Invitational, shattered that mark with a 25:03.89 as she continues to show strong strides in her junior season. Rice was also the fifth Falcon to finish, showing impressive races each time out this season. Kruk was running in her second career collegiate meet and crossed the finish line in 30:11.22.
Also running personal-bests Friday were freshmen Nora Imperl (Greenfield, Wis.), Paulina Agnello (Brookfield, Wis.) and Martha Kulberg (Maple Grove, Minn.). Imperl was the third Falcon to finish the race, completing the course in 24:10.11. Angello came in at 25:12.96, while Kulberg was next in line with a 25:40.72.
Sophomore Ashley Scheele (Kohler, Wis.) was the second CUW runner to finish the race, posting a time of 23:48.54. Scheele finished 21st overall. Freshman Cassandra Sprotte (Abbotsford, Wis.) was the fourth Falcon to clock in, running a 24:58.49, while Rice completed the scoring lineup.
North Central placed five runners in the top 10 to claim the team title, finishing ahead of Aurora. The Falcons fifth-place finish was second among five NACC schools in action Friday.
CUW will return to competition next Saturday when they run at the Brooks Invite, hosted by UW-Oshkosh. The meet will take place at Lake Breeze Golf Course and is set for a noon start. The men's race will take place first, beginning at 11 a.m.
