Sophomore Samantha Rowley (Barrington, Ill. / Barrington) cracked the program record book and delivered the program's fastest women's 5k in 12 years as the Valparaiso University women's and men's cross country teams competed at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invite in the "gold" races on Friday. On the men's side, sophomore Joey Yaros (Bloomington, Ill. / Normal Community) led the way, while sophomore Braden Hoff (New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln Way Central) moved up in the program record book.
 
How It Happened

• Rowley placed 17^th of 211 in the women's 5k, stopping the clock in a personal-best 17:45.48. Her time ranks fourth in program history and marks the fastest 5k by a Valpo woman since Jessica Richardson in 2014.
• Yaros led the Beacons in the men's 8k, narrowly missing a top-10 finish by placing 11^th at 24:24.5.
• Hoff set a PR with a time of 24:47.5, moving up from ninth to seventh in the program record book. He crossed the line 36^th in the field.
• Redshirt junior Laetitia Raoult (Guingamp, France / Florida International) was second on the team in the women's race, turning in a top-50 finish with a time of 18.16.74. A third Beacon in the top 100 was redshirt senior Alina Worzella (Martinsville, Ind. / Martinsville) at 18:45.18.
• In the men's race, four Beacons finished in the top 60 with junior Tim Jochum (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Glenbard South) 52^nd at 25:01.1 and junior Tyler Swartz (Warsaw, Ind. / Warsaw Community) 60^th at 25:07.4.
• As a team, the Valpo women were 16^th of 24, beating nine teams – Western Illinois, Loyola Marymount, Nova Southeastern, Marquette, Rio Grande, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Cleveland State. The Valpo women have run in Notre Dame's race 12 times in the last 14 years, and nine is the most teams that Valpo has ever finished ahead of in this race.
• The Valpo men were 10^th of 21, beating Goshen, U Chicago, Oakland, Dayton, Milwaukee, Purdue Fort Wayne, Rio Grande, Nova Southeastern, Kent State, Western Illinois and Chicago State. The Valpo men have competed at Notre Dame almost every year for the last 20 years, and this marks the team's highest finish.  

Men's 8k New All-Time Top 10
RUNNER DATE EVENT TIME
1. Joseph Scheele 11/1/24 MVC Champ. 24:04.8
2. Karson Hollander 10/17/25 Bradley Pink Classic 24:19.76
3. Joey Yaros 9/18/26 Roy Griak Invite 24:20.6
4. Evan Walda 10/13/23 Bradley Pink Classic 24:22.9
5. Alexander Bruno 10/27/2018 MVC Champ. 24:23
6. Ignacio Veloz-Bonilla 10/14/22 Bradley Pink Classic 24:39.1
7. Braden Hoff 10/2/26 Notre Dame Joe Piane Invite 24:47.5
8. Simeon Ehm 10/14/22 Bradley Pink Classic 24:48.3
9. Tim Jochum 9/18/26 Roy Griak Invite 24:53.1
10. Nick Dul 9/18/26 Roy Griak Invite 24:54.4

Women's 5k New All-Time Top 10
RUNNER DATE EVENT TIME
1. Laura Rolf 11/13/2007 Evansville Invite 16:40.33
2. Jessica Richardson 10/3/2014 Notre Dame Invite 16:58.5
3. Collette Liss 9/13/1997 Crusader Invite 17:13
4. Samatha Rowley 10/2/2026 Notre Dame Joe Piane Invite 17:45.47
5. Danielle Nunnelly 9/15/2006 Indiana Intercoll. 17:47.4
6. Rachael Button 9/28/2007 Notre Dame Invite 18:10
   Tami Long 1998 Unknown 18:10
8. Katherine Germann 10/27/2018 MVC Champ. 18:12.9
9. Elizabeth Whiting 10/28/2000 Mid-Con Champ. 1 8: 1 4
10. Laëtitia Raoult 10/4/2024 Joe Piane Invite 18.14.1
 
Up Next
The Beacons will return to the course on Friday, Oct. 16 for Indiana State Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.