Ottumwa, IA – Four runners placed in the top-20 to lead No. 17 Indian Hills Women's Cross Country to a third-place finish at the team's home meet, the Indian Hills Invitational at the Cedar Creek Golf Course. The Warriors totaled 66 team points on the day.
"I thought the women ran very well," stated Indian Hills Cross Country assistant coach Noah Larrison. "They all put themselves in an awesome position to compete well. We had an awesome pack with our back-four and was very happy to see that. As a whole, we ran very well with three personal bests."
Freshman Emily Casterline (Pella, IA/Belvidere) was the top finisher for the Warriors, placing 10th overall with a time of 20:37.4 in the 5k event. The mark was Casterline's second-best 5k performance of the year and has ran sub-21 minutes in each of her three 5k events this season.
Sophomore Monse Chalupa (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) posted her best effort of the season, finishing second for the Warriors and 16th overall with a time of 21:28.7 Chalupa knocked nearly 40 seconds off of her personal best this year.
Freshman Morgan Klaus (Bloomfield, IA/Davis County) also topped her previous personal best with a time of 21:37.3. Klaus placed 19th overall to score for the Warriors. Fellow teammate Alexia McClure (Eldon, IA/Cardinal) came in 20th place with a personal best time of 21:44.3.
Freshman Isabelle Mellin (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) rounded out the scoring for the Warriors, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 21:51.0.
11 different teams competed at the annual event hosted by the Warriors, the most teams to participate at the meet. Iowa Western Community College took home the team title with three of the top-five overall individual finishers, including Mercy Biwott's first-place finish.
The Indian Hills Invitational wrapped up the team's regular season schedule as the Warriors now head to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Championship Friday, Oct. 29 at 4:00 PM in Waterloo, IA.
