FORT WAYNE, Ind. - On Friday afternoon the University of Saint Francis Cougars traveled out to Notre Dame to compete in the National Catholic Invitational, and led by junior Alex Ebetino, they finished in the top half placing eighth out of 16 teams.

Out of 186 runners in the 5K, junior Alex Ebetino finished ninth out of all the runners, leading all USF Cougars and runners from the Crossroads League. Her time of 18:21.1 was just over three seconds behind the eighth-place finisher from Marquette. 

"Alex continues to prove herself as a leader of this team with her consistent running up front!" Head Coach Brendon Moody said of his All-American runner. "We made a step in the right direction on the women's side with a lot of positive takeaways. We still have work to do and look forward to racing at Louisville in two weeks!"

Along with Ebetino, five other Cougars finished in the top half of all the competing runners: freshman Mikayla Robles placed 46th to finish in the top 30th percentile with a time of 19:40.8, junior Kristina Baum finished 68th with a time of 20:09.5, freshman Ella Dubbs finished 77th with a time of 20:28.9, senior Kelsey Peck placed 82nd with a time of 20:35.9, and freshman Lillee Stewart finishing 92nd with a time of 20:56.2.

The Cougars resume play next Friday afternoon when they travel to Thomas Sawyer State Park to compete in the Greater Louisville Classic.

Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and updates with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.