LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A soggy course did not slow down the Bellarmine University women's cross country team, with multiple runners recording their best times of the season at the Greater Louisville Invitational at E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park on Saturday.
Head coach
Angela Musk said that she wanted her team to avoid getting too carried away by the size and competition of the race, and therefore, wasting too much energy in the first mile.
"We've really been focusing this week, as a team and as individuals, on developing a good race plan and executing it without second thought," Musk said. "They definitely demonstrated their ability to do that effectively today."
The Knights finished 27th of 36 teams, with all their runners competing in the "Gold Race." Notable Division I teams in the "Gold Race" include Michigan, who finished first, Butler and Louisville. Top Division II teams such as Grand Valley State, Southern Indiana and Hillsdale also raced for a total of 368 runners.
The race plan for Bellarmine's
Erin Crone and
Karly Gawarecki was to stick together, and that is exactly what they did. The two helped push each other to new personal records, finishing in the top 100 of the five-kilometer race with identical times of 18:02.2, which is the sixth fastest time in school history.
"Erin and Karly showed that they can compete with Division I and some of the fastest Division II athletes," Musk said.
The team as a whole had their strongest performance of the season on the "home turf." Musk said that most of the team walked away from today's race with either a new personal record or season best.
"
Caitlin Carroll made some big strides forward this week," Musk said. "She had her fastest race of the season, by quite a lot, and looked much stronger, overall."
Carroll finished in 18:44.4, shaving nearly 35 seconds off her best time this season.
The Knights continue to work toward closing the gap between the first and fifth runners.
"I'd still like to see our fourth, fifth and sixth runners a little closer to the front, but they continue to make progress each week," Musk said. "I'm confident that we'll get to where we want to be by the end of the season."
Bellarmine will compete again next weekend in the Fast Cats Invitational in Owensboro, Kentucky, on October 8 at 1 p.m.
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