SOUTH BEND, Ind. - IU Indianapolis senior Julie Smith continued to shine as she led the women's cross country team's efforts at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational at Burke Golf Course on Friday (Oct. 3). Smith placed 27th of 171 runners in the 5,000m race with a time of 18:12.9 to lead the Jaguars. Behind her, Grace Bragg was 67th overall in a time of 18:46.7. 

Collectively, the Jaguars finished 13th of 22 teams with 336 points. 

Bragg was joined by Ella Colclesser and Carina Alanis, as they finished 70th and 76th, respectively. Colclesser crossed at 18:47.9 and Alanis finished at 18:56.8. Bragg set a new personal best by 35 seconds while Colclesser shed 30 seconds from her prior best. 

"Our 2-3-4 did a really good job of moving together and we will need them to continue that when we get to conference," head coach Antonio McDaniel said. "Next meet, we're going to have to get that top-5 to move up together."

Hannah Robbins was the team's No. 5 runner on Friday, finishing 106th overall in a time of 19:23.1, shedding 45 seconds off her previous personal record. Three freshmen were next in line as Kaylynn Bedel (19:43.5), AnnMarie Gibson (20:03.5) and Emily Bruns (20:26.9) rounded out the team's top eight. Wini Barnett finished her race in a time of 20:28.3, placing 155th overall. 

Windsor won the team scoring with 73 points while Wisconsin-La Crosse (109), St. Thomas (Minn.) (122), U. of Chicago (127) and Western Ontario (165) rounded out the top five teams. Akron runners accounted for the top two spots as Mercy Jebitok won the race in a time of 16:57.4 and teammate Megan Hipple was second at 17:05.2. 

Earlier in the day, two Jaguars competed in the Open Race of the day's events as Julynne Spidell finished 104th of 127 runners in a time of 20:37.1. Just behind her, freshman Carson Parks ran a time of 20:51.5 in the open event. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Friday, Oct. 17 when they compete in the Angel Mounds Invitational in Evansville, Ind.