SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Five Redbirds posted personal-best times at the 64th annual Joe Piane Invitational leading Illinois State to a ninth-place finish out of 25 teams in the gold division on Friday afternoon at Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course.
"We had a number of PBs (personal bests) out there today which is definitely a sign of improvement," assistant coach Jon-Michael Brandt said. "We're looking to continue making these improvements moving forward as we get closer to chasing the Valley title."
Sophomore Rachel Hickey recorded the top time for the Redbirds for the second-straight meet, completing the 5K in a personal-best time of 17:24.29 for an improvement of 13 seconds from her previous time. Also posting a top-25 finish for the 'Birds was redshirt-junior Grace Beattie who clocked in at personal-best time of 17:36.29 to place 22nd overall.
The senior duo of Annie Moore and Kennidi Knoblock were the next Illinois State runners to cross the finish line with Moore notching a top-50 finish with a time of 18:02.78 to place 47th overall, while Knoblock finished 65th with a time of 18:14.52.
Completing the scoring for the Redbird women was freshman Mackenzie Brownrigg who placed 109th overall with a personal-best time of 18:43.12 for an improvement of 37 seconds. Her fifth-place finish on the ISU team is her best performance so far in her freshman campaign.
Sophomore Maddi Exline and senior Hattie Plumb also posted personal-best times in the 5K today. Crossing the finish line sixth for the 'Birds, Exline recorded a time of 18:59.20. Plumb wasn't far behind, clocking in at 19:02.35 in her third race of the year.
UP NEXT
The Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams are both back in action at the Bradley Classic on Friday, Oct. 18 in Peoria, Illinois. The first race is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
