Friday, October 01, 2004

Led by Rachel Button's (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington H.S.) 19th place finish overall, the Valparaiso University women's cross country team finished in fifth place in the Gold Race of the Notre Dame Invitational held in Notre Dame, Ind. on Friday afternoon.

The Crusaders tallied 202 points for the day, trailing just Wisconsin-Oshkosh (119), Notre Dame (123), Hillsdale (143), and Cincinnati (156) in the standings.

Button turned in a time of 18:49 over the five-kilometer course, bettering her season's best time by 22 seconds.

Danielle Nunnelly (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) finished second for the Crusaders placing 35th overall with a time of 19:02. Teammate Rachel Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit H.S.) was two places behind Nunnelly with a gap of three seconds between the two.

Heidi Nathan (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford H.S.) finished fourth for the Brown and Gold with a time of 19:19, earning 53rd place overall. Jobeth Schmiesing (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West H.S.) rounded out the scorers with her 62nd place finish with a time of 19:23, while Ashley Billstrom (Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall H.S.) was two seconds behind.

Those Crusaders that did not compete at Notre Dame will take to the course on Saturday to compete at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational held in Chicago. Race time is set for 10:30 a.m.