Story by Mark McFarland, Staff writer
Five women set new personal records at Notre Dame Invitational.
The Notre Dame Invitational was a success as both the men’s and the women’s team finished in the top 15, while five women set new personal best times on Friday Oct. 2.
The men’s team finished 15th in the gold five mile race with an average team time of 26:07.
Mark Ventura, sophomore from Slade, Kentucky, finished first on the men’s team with a time of 25:44. Head Coach Jenny Swieton was very pleased with how they competed in the race.
“They competed well,” Swieton said. “Almost every guy finished in a better place than where they were at the halfway point in the race.”
As for the women’s team, five different women set new career record in their gold 5K race this past weekend. Heatherly Paschall, senior from Murray, Kentucky, set her personal best time at 20:30. But Coach Swieton was not pleased overall with all of her female runners.
“Some ladies had really great performances,” Swieton said. “Some were not where we would hope them to be.”
Coach Swieton is excited to see the two team’s compete in their next race. It is a very big race and there will also be a ton of competition there that will be exciting to watch, she said.
The Racers will compete in their next race on Oct. 17 in Louisville, Kentucky in the Pre-Nationals.