NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It was a day of powerful running competition for the Franciscan University of Steubenville cross country team as they competed in the 31^st Annual National Catholic Championship at the University of Notre Dame Friday afternoon. Taking on Catholic universities that span all three NCAA divisions, Franciscan showed they could run with the best.

Earning the 21^st spot out of 35 teams, the men's cross country team faced nationally ranked runners from the likes of Notre Dame, Marquette University, University of Dayton, Xavier University, and DePaul University. Sophomore Bill Jones placed 38 out of the 285 runners, clipping a time of 26:27.3. Kevin Leroy followed in 121^st place with a time of 27:48.1. The other top five Franciscan runners: Jack Kaiser, Jason Luizzi, and Michael Gotta wrapped up the scoring with the times of 29:09.1; 29:59.6; 30:12.4, respectively.

"It was a bigger meet this year than last year, with twice as many division one teams competing," noted head coach Dr. Daniel Kuebler. "With so many more runners it made for a better competition, but it was a different experience for our top runners. They were running with a much bigger pack than they are used to."

Dividing the scores up more, host Notre Dame sectioned a "division two" scoring for all universities participating that are division two, division three or NAIA affiliated. The Franciscan men's team jumped to 11 out of 25 teams, with Jones moving to ninth out of 204 runners. Leroy followed in the 53^rd position.

The men's team also clinched fourth place out of all the division three teams.

"Overall, they ran very well. This was the best finish our men's team has ever had at this particular meet," noted Kuebler. "Particularly given that Jack [Kaiser] was running with a really bad cold and Bill Jones stepped on the course with ankle injuries brought on by overcompensating for his shin splints."

Two-time Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship winners, Franciscan's women's cross country team showed their speed can match top universities.

The Lady Barons were the top division three team for the second straight year at the National Catholic Championship and placed 12^th out of 35 teams. In the "division two" scoring, they earned third place out of 25.

"It was the first time we've ever had four women all finish under 20 minutes," said Kuebler. "It was one of the best performances our women have ever had."

Running a time of 19:01 in the women's 5K, junior Theresa Evans clipped in at the 49^th spot out of 280 runners spanning all NCAA divisions and NAIA affiliated schools. In the "division 2" scoring, Evans placed seventh out of 196 runners.

"Theresa basically earned the same time as last year in this race," noted Kuebler. "She is very consistent as a runner which serves as a valuable example to our younger runners. They all know to follow her example of reliability and consistency as they learn to grow in confidence – Theresa will always run a good race." 

Following in Evans's strong footsteps, freshman Nicole Krajewski placed 58 overall with a time of 19:16, with Katherine Manion and Anna Scarnecchia finishing in 19:34 and 19:42, respectively. Finishing strong for the Lady Barons, Kailey Gotta held a time of 20:44; Lexie Mathis ran in 21:01; and Emily DeSana was close behind with a time of 21:10.

The cross country team heads to the St. Vincent Invitational this Saturday at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The first race starts at 10:30 a.m.