Full Results (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I McDaniel Post Meet

CARMEL, Ind. - True freshman Shelby Pake and senior teammate Savannah Clark pushed the IUPUI women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Butler Opener at Northview Church on Friday night (Sept. 2), finishing fifth and sixth overall at the season opener. Host Butler coasted to the team title with 23 points while IUPUI finished second with 52. Ball State (53) and Marian (115) rounded out the team scoring. 

Head Coach Antonio McDaniel knew his team would lag in the team standings with the quartet of Zoey Johnson, Alexis Lewandowski, Allie Wright and Katelyn Murphy all relegated to cheerleader duty to gain extra rest in the season's early going. 

Despite the top four sitting out, IUPUI put four runners among the top 12 en route to a second-place finish. Pake spun a time of 19:10.8 in her collegiate debut and the recently married Clark showed new found health, finishing at 19:11.0. 

Junior Kelsey Tyler was 11th overall at 19:23.3 and Haley Welch was 12th at 19:31.5. 

Speedy sophomore Amairany Cruz capped the scoring five in 18th at 19:47.6 and Valeria Guzman was just off her pace at 20:04.0. Jennifer Emery and Ashley Kidwell were next in line, both closing at 20:07. 

"Overall, I think it went pretty well. We honestly had no idea how things would go today," Head Coach Antonio McDaniel said. "We haven't really done anything at race pace yet. I liked a lot of what we saw here today - I'm pretty excited.

"A lot of the girls made race goals for the season and process goals to go along with it and the main thing was to focus on those goals that aren't time oriented because that will come. Sticking with teammates and fighting in the middle - that was really the focus today and I saw a lot of women do that today, which makes it really exciting."

The stakes will rise for the Jaguars in two weeks when they participate in the Indiana Intercollegiates in Bloomington on Friday, Sept. 16. 

Team Standings
1. Butler - 23
2. IUPUI - 52
3. Ball State - 53
4. Marian - 115

Individual Results
5. Shelby Pake - 19:10.8
6. Savannah Clark - 19:11.0
11. Kelsey Tyler - 19:23.3
12. Haley Welch - 19:31.5
18. Amairany Cruz - 19:47.6
19. Valeria Guzman - 20:04.0
21. Jennifer Emery - 20:07.0
22. Ashley Kidwell - 20:07.0
27. Lauren Osterhout - 20:28.2
32. Rachel Saylor - 20:59.6
33. Nicole Hampshire - 20:59.8