LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The IU Indianapolis women's cross country team continued to be powered by its newcomers as the Jaguars ran to a sixth-place finish in the 5K Gold Race of the Louisville Cross Country Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park on Saturday (Oct. 3). 

The team's top four finishers were all rookies with three true freshmen among that group as the Jaguars continued to flourish to start the year. 

Rookie Maren Wilson finished 20th of 206 runners in a time of 18:05.9 and was the fourth-best freshman among the field. Fellow rookie Hannah Suvar finished at 18:16.5 to place 32nd and Indiana-transfer Ellia Hayes closed hard for a time of 18:42.9, placing 56th. 

"It was a solid performance from our team today," head coach Antonio McDaniel said. "Maren has continued to do a great job leading us. It was great to see our top seven gap under 60 seconds and I wouldn't be surprised if we closed that some more. The next race we will have to do a better job of getting out and pack up earlier. 

"Today, we let ourselves get trapped at the start but our team fought hard to make up the gap."

"I am super happy to finally be out and competing again, especially with this team," Hayes said of her first finish in an IU Indy uniform. "The girls are so supportive and enjoyable to run with. I'm so happy that my first cross country race in a while was in the Jaguar uniform!"

Another rookie, Aftin Griffin, placed 66th overall in a time of 18:48.2 and sophomore Riley Flynn capped the scoring five at 18:54.1, placing 76th overall. The Jags had reinforcements on the way in senior Grace Bragg (18:54.9) and freshman Elora Bliss (18:59.3), finishing 79th and 82nd, respectively. 

Sophomores Kaylynn Bedel and Jenna Twedt were next in line at 19:27.0 and 19:30.1. 

The Jaguars finished sixth in the team scoring with 223 points. West Texas A&M earned the team title with 34 points, easily outdistancing second-place Lee (Tenn.) by 66 points. Marshall senior Rachael Withrow coasted to the individual win in a time of 16:26.4, winning by more than 40 seconds. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Friday, Oct. 16 when they compete in the ISU Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.