FORT WAYNE, Ind. - IU Indianapolis women's cross country's Julie Smith put up an impressive showing, earning First Team All-Horizon League honors at the 2025 Horizon League Championships on Saturday (Nov. 1). Smith placed seventh of 119 runners overall in a time of 21:12.1, just missing a new school record by less than one second and taking 26 seconds off her previous best.  

Collectively, the Jaguars finished sixth of 11 teams with 191 points. 

"Overall, we were a little disappointed in our team finish, but we had a lot of good things happen here today, so it's a bit of a mixed bag of emotions," head coach Antonio McDaniel said. "The standout, obviously, was Julie Smith getting first team (all-league). She's worked so hard to get back to this point after being out due to multiple injuries. Grace Bragg, having the race of her life - a race we knew she could have. Even though she just missed out on all-conference, I'm extremely proud of her."

Smith positioned near the front from the opening gun and tucked in behind the leaders throughout the race. She had to fight the final stretch to claim the final first team all-league spot, doing so by four seconds over the eighth-place finisher. 

"It felt so good, we were working so hard as a team," Smith said. "Our whole team is doing so much better this year than any of the years that I've been here, so I think that's really what pushed me to be able to do that - having my teammates right behind me."

Bragg finished 15th overall at 21:38.3, crossing at the exact same time as the No. 14 finisher, just missing the final all-league berth. Her time was a 48 second personal best. Sophomore Ella Colclesser was No. 26 overall with a personal best time of 22:04.9 and senior Carina Alanis was next in line with a season best 22:49.2. 

Wini Barnett capped the top five by placing 60th overall at 22:49.7, taking 31 seconds off her prior best, and Hannah Robbins closed at 22:51.1 for a 19 second personal record.  

True freshman AnnMarie Gibson took a full minute off her prior best at 22:54.3 as the team's top rookie on Saturday while Emily Bruns and Kaylynn Bedel finished in succession at 83rd and 84th, respectively. Bruns ran a personal best time of 23:13.6 and Bedel finished at 23:14.4, taking 28 seconds off her previous best. 

Senior Julynne Spidell rounded out the team entries with a personal best time of 24:06.9. 

Youngstown State ran to the team title with 54 points, defeating host Purdue Fort Wayne by 20 points. YSU's McKinley Fielding took the individual tape in a time of 20:10.9, putting a 36 second margin on her closest competition. 

The Jaguars will close out the season at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at the Angel Mounds Cross Country Course in Evansville, Ind., on Nov. 14.