Friday, September 14, 2012

Valparaiso sophomore Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) ran to a tenth-place finish on Friday afternoon to lead the Crusader women's cross country team to a 14th-place finish at the Indiana Intercollegiates in Terre Haute, Ind.

Valpo totaled 421 points on Friday to finish the race in 14^th place out of 26 competing teams. Indiana earned the team title with 29 points, led by individual champion Kelsey Duerksen.

Richardson finished less than four seconds shy of her collegiate best at the 5K distance, set two weeks ago at the Crusader Open, as the sophomore covered the course in 18:24.9 to finish with her second straight top-ten finish. Freshman Hannah Schilling (Fraser, Mich./Lutheran North) was the second Crusader across the line, finishing in 95^th place with a time of 20:25.6.

Fellow rookie Dezzarae Arce (Orland Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) came home next for Valpo, covering the 5K course in 20:41.8 to finish in 108^th place. Senior Haley Kerlin (Rensselaer, Ind./Rensselaer) and junior Grace Shemwell (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) crossed the line back-to-back to close out Valpo's top-five, posting times of 21:03.4 and 21:06.0 to place 122^nd and 123^rd, respectively.

Valparaiso returns to action in two weeks, traveling east to take part in the Notre Dame Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind. on Friday, September 28.