Valparaiso University cross country junior Karson Hollander (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Crystal Lake) was the runner-up in a field of 167 finishers in the men's 8k at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invite on Friday afternoon in the South Bend, Ind. area.
 
How It Happened

• Hollander finished the men's gold 8k in 24:21.7, outdoing his previous personal best of 24:47.5 that was set last week. He jumped from fifth to second in program history, eclipsing Evan Walda's time of 24:22.9 from the 2023 Bradley Pink Classic for the No. 2 spot in the program record book.
• Hollander finished behind only Green Bay's Noah Jahnke, who won the race in 23:58.5.
• The second Valpo runner to reach the finish line was senior Joseph Scheele (Mahomet, Ill. / Mahomet-Seymour), who posted a time of 25:43.2. Third on the team was redshirt junior Alex Valerio (Rockford, Ill. / Boylan Catholic) at 26:02.2.
• In the women's gold 5k, the first Beacon to cross the finish line was freshman Samantha Rowley (Barrington, Ill. / Barrington), who improved her time from the Winrow Open by stopping the clock in 18:26.1. She placed 39^th in a large, 171-runner field.
• The second Beacon across the finish line in the women's race was sophomore Kensington Black (Franklin, Ohio / Franklin Senior), whose time of 18:40.7 was good for 54^th, outdoing her best 5k time from last season.
• Redshirt sophomore Laetitia Raoult (Guingamp, France / [Florida International]) was third on the team at 18:43.5.
• As a team, the Valpo women finished 16^th of 22 with a score of 417. The men were 15^th of 21 at 362.

Up Next
The Beacons will run their final race prior to the conference championship when they head to Peoria, Ill. for the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday, Oct. 17.