South Bend, INDIANA - The Mustangs Cross Country teams traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for one of their biggest tests of the season at the prestigious Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.

Competing at Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course, the Mustangs lined up in four races — the Men's and Women's Gold Divisions and the Men's and Women's Open Divisions — and came away with several strong performances against deep NCAA competition.

Men's Gold 8K — Western 2nd

The highlight of the day came in the Men's Gold 8K, where Western put together an outstanding team performance to finish second overall in the 21-team field with 152 points. The Mustangs finished behind only Tiffin (120), while defeating Marquette (164), Saint Louis (176), Illinois-Chicago (183), Southern Illinois (188), Texas State (207), Windsor (232) and 13 other programs.

First-year Kirk Hallman led the way with an impressive 16th-place finish in 24:30.4. Western then demonstrated its strength through the pack, with Satveer Gill finishing 29th in 24:42.1, Tom Boers 33rd in 24:44.9, Robin Faricier 35th in 24:47.0 and Eitan Garfin-Udaskin 39th in 24:49.7.

The five Mustang scorers crossed the line just 19.3 seconds apart, a tremendous display of pack running. Owen Parkes added a 58th-place finish in 25:06.5, while Skyler Grossi completed Western's seven-man squad in 107th at 25:38.7.

Women's Gold 5K — Western 10th

Western's women finished 10th in the 24-team Women's Gold field with 324 points, led by an excellent performance from first-year Avery Norland.

Competing in just her second university cross country meet, Norland finished 39th overall in 18:12.1 to lead the Mustangs. Brooke Power was close behind, placing 49th in 18:16.7.

Western's depth was evident behind its front two, with Erika Gordon finishing 78th in 18:35.5, Juliana Hendrikx 84th in 18:37.5, Zaira Chaudhry 86th in 18:38.9 and Charlotte Piscione 90th in 18:40.0. Nora Treleaven finished 105th in 18:49.2, while Clara Fava rounded out Western's eight-woman contingent in 113th at 18:53.1.

Women's Open 5K — Western 6th

Western also produced a strong performance in the Women's Open 5K, finishing sixth among 11 scoring teams with 146 points.

Another first-year led the way, as Julie DeBoer finished 31st overall in 18:39.4. Claire Hickey followed in 47th at 19:06.4, with Reagan Atkinson 55th in 19:19.4, Laura Peters 60th in 19:35.2 and Lucy Stephenson 74th in 19:47.9.

Alexandra Podstreleny finished 85th in 20:06.0, while Ella Reise completed the Western contingent in 93rd at 20:20.6.

Men's Open 8K — Western 8th

The Mustangs finished eighth in the Men's Open 8K with 234 points, led by Matthew Markson, who crossed the line 49th overall in 25:53.3.

First-year Samuel Simpson followed in 71st at 26:16.3, while fellow first-year Cecil Jenkins placed 86th in 26:43.8. Myles Nazarewicz finished 96th in 26:56.3 and Jonah Lariviere was 116th in 28:03.7. 

A Strong Day in South Bend

Across the four races, Western demonstrated both the strength at the front of its lineup and the growing depth of the program.

The men's runner-up finish in the Gold Division highlighted the day, with five Mustangs finishing inside the top 40 and only 19.3 seconds separating the scoring five. On the women's side, first-year Avery Norland's 39th-place performance in just her second university meet provided another encouraging sign, while fellow first-year Julie DeBoer led Western in the Open race.

With strong performances from veterans and first-year athletes alike, the Joe Piane Invitational provided the Mustangs with an important test against NCAA competition as Western continues to build toward the championship portion of the cross country season.

For full race results click HERE