by TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Senior Rachel Johnson claimed the Pre-National Invitational title to help the 22nd-ranked Baylor women’s cross country team place seventh on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
Johnson finished the 6,000-meter course in 20:21.1, which was 15.3 seconds faster than second-place finisher, Megan Curham of Princeton. The race was run on the course that will also host next month’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Behind Johnson, Alex Davis (Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma) took 22nd in a time of 21:13.7, while Maggie Montoya was 45th in 21:30.7. Rounding out BU’s scoring runners where Mariah Kelly (94th, 22:01.6) and Ann-Marie Dunlap (140th, 22:19.7).
Those five runners combined to tally 302 points, which was only 14 points behind sixth-place Princeton (288) and 43 ahead of eighth-place Lamar (345).
“It was a very good day overall. Rachel ran a very controlled race. She looked very good. Alex Davis also came through with one of her best races. The conditions were tough with a course that was very wet. We can still run better.” – head coach Todd Harbour on the women’s team
Baylor now will be off next week before traveling to the Big 12 Championships on Nov. 1 in Lawrence, Kan.
