SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Bellarmine University cross country teams competed Friday in Notre Dame's National Catholic Invitational at Burke Golf Course.

Bellarmine's men placed fourth out of 14 teams with 135 in the 5-mile race. The host Fighting Irish had the top-4 finishers and placed first with 16.

The Knights' top 5 consisted of freshmen. Chase Atkins, Nolan Hester, Josh Meiman and Wil Stamm crossed the finish line consecutively from Nos. 27-30 and D.K. Schnieders followed closely in 36th.

BELLARMINE MEN'S FINISHES (5 Mile): 27. Chase Atkins (26:48.7); 28. Nolan Hester (26:49.8); 29. Josh Meiman (26:50.4); 30. Wil Stamm (26:56.8); 36. D.K. Schnieders (27:03.7); 51. Ryan Burchett (27:41.7); 63. Matthew Wantland (28:03.6); 66. Chandler Gibson (28:06.3); 68. Jackson Gawarecki (28:09.1); 71. John Cason (28:12.5); 80. Josh Smalley (28:25.2); 87. Nate Smith (28:39.2); 113. Alex Wallingford (29:53.9)

Bellarmine's women placed fifth out of 15 teams with 176 in the 5K race. Notre Dame swept the top 5 in placing first with 15.

Junior Emma Wells paced the Knights in 22nd followed closely by senior Lauren Masden in 24th. Junior Anna Wells crossed the finish line in 47th, junior Ellie Schroeder was next in 59th and sophomore Chloe Powell rounded out the top 5 in 65th.

"That was a great result for us! Fifth place was essentially the best I thought we could do in this field," Coach Angela Hapner Musk said. "It was a very hot day, obviously, and we are in a heavy training block, so I expected we'd be pretty flat and possibly underperform a bit. That was certainly true for some individuals, but on the other hand, others stepped up and had impressive showings for such a hot day. I am eager to see them in action again in cooler weather and on lighter legs!"

BELLARMINE WOMEN'S FINISHES (5K): 22. Emma Wells (19:13.9); 24. Lauren Masden (19:15.7); 47. Anna Wells (19:44.6); 59. Ellie Schroeder (20:07.0); 65. Chloe Powell (20:15.3); 67. Justice Pohlman-Singleton (20:16.3); 74. Hannah Ellis (20:24.1); 89. Morgan Kannapel (21:11.0); 94. Erin Luckett (21:19.6); 105. Trisha Sexton (21:39.3); 113. Riley Glenn (21:54.9); 114. Madison Adkins (21:57.7); 154. Neville Wintergerst-Burch (23:41.3); 160. Olivia Brown (24:05.4); 166. Alivia Ryan (24:28.4); 170. Abby Jaworski (27:09.8)    

UP NEXT: Bellarmine will compete in what is ostensibly a home meet as the Knights are set to participate Oct. 2 in the Greater Louisville Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

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