SOUTH BEND, Indiana- Bill Jones set a new Franciscan cross country five mile record after he beat 275 competitors, including runners from Division I and Division II schools, finishing with a time of 24:22 at the Notre Dame National Catholic Championship. 

Jones finished second overall in a race with 276 runners, representing 34 teams. Thirteen of those teams were Division I schools.

The race was tight between Franciscan's Jones and Notre Dame's, Division I runner, Jeremy Rae. Jones's had the lead with one mile remaining, but was over taken in the last half mile by Rae. 

Jones record setting run shaved 27 seconds of the previous Franciscan record, also held by Jones.

Head coach, Dan Kuebler, had nothing but praise for his top runner's memorable performance.

“He was strong. He went out with the lead pack and stuck with it as it gradually got thinner and thinner. He just made a move to the front and looked strong the whole race,” Kuebler said.  

After running the best race of his life, Jones couldn't help but be excited.

“It's a huge personal best for me. I feel great," Jones said. "It was my first five mile race of the season. I felt like I proved myself. I was happy to finish with as good of a time as I did. This is a great representation for our school.” 

While Jones was proud of his performance he also said he appreciated the competition.

“We dueled it out pretty much the whole way. It's a learning experience," Jones said. "Next time I'm going to kick even harder in the end. I made him work for it though. I knew that I would make him go through the house of pain. I have nothing but respect for him” 

Jones's powerful example helped his team's confidence and Kuebler said it will go a long way to helping the team accomplish their main goal this season; winning their conference.

“This is a great confidence builder for him and our team. He knows he can run with basically anybody” Kuebler said. 

Another bright spot for the men's team was sophomore, Patrick Flanagan, who ran his five miles in 28:17 after being cleared from a concussion.  

The Lady Barons, led by junior, Nicole Krajewski, ran their 5K race and placed very well overall. Krajewski finished fifty-ninth out of 265 runners. Her race time also put her in 10^th place against all schools not in Division I. Coach Kuebler talked about her confidence this year.

“She is getting in great shape. She definitely has the ability to win the conference this year,” Kuebler said.

The Barons men team finished 14 out of 21 while the Lady Barons finished 13 out of 21.

The men and women look to prepare for their next race in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on September 22.