Freshman Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) debuted with a bang Friday afternoon at the Crusader Open at Sunset Hills Park, running to a 14th place finish to lead the Valparaiso women’s cross country squad.

The Crusader women totaled 140 points on the meet, good for fifth place out of six competing teams.  Northwestern captured the team title with 25 points, including a first-place finish from Audrey Huth.

Richardson covered the 5K course on Friday in a time of 19:08.8 for her 14th-place showing, outpacing all but one runner from Western Michigan, as well as Marquette’s entire contingent.  Sophomore Nicole Zehel (Wixom, Mich./Lutheran Westland) was the second Valpo runner to cross the line, completing the race in 19:56.8, good for 29th place.

Sophomore Claire Johnson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) crossed the line in 48th place with a time of 20:42.2, while junior Haley Kerlin (Rensselaer, Ind./Rensselaer) ran a time of 20:59.0 to finish in 53rd place.  Freshman Eileen Carmignani (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) rounded out Valpo’s contingent of runners with a 79th-place finish, crossing the line in 25:28.9.

Valparaiso returns to action in two weekends, as the Crusaders travel to Annapolis, Md. on Saturday, Sept. 17 to take part in the Navy Invitational.  The first race from the Naval Academy is slated for a 10 a.m. CDT start.