Junior Rachael Dean (Lindenhurst, Ill./Judson University/Lake) ran a strong race for the Saint Xavier University women's cross country team at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships hosted by Illinois State University Friday evening in Normal, Ill. Northwestern University won the meet with a team score of 35, while SXU would finish a respectable 11^th in the 31-team field with a team score of 362 behind several NCAA Division 1 schools.

Dean would finish for 26^th out of 330 runners competing in the 5K meet (5,000 meters) with a time of 18:51. Also running well for SXU was freshman Jordan Wallace (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) with a time of 19:27, to place her at 63^rd. Rounding out the top five scores for the Cougars were junior Jackie Ott (Island Lake, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) with a time of 20:25 at 117^th, senior Kelly Malone (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) finished at 20:53 for 143^rd place and senior Jade Braden (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) would finish 146^th with a time of 20:57. Other finishers for the Cougars were senior Katy Thomson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) in a time of 21:26 and sophomore Alyssa Driscoll (Marion, Iowa/Xavier) at 22:14.

Saint Xavier takes a week off before heading to downtown Chicago on Saturday, October 2, to take part in the Sean Earl Invitational hosted by Loyola University. The meet begins at 12 p.m. at Montrose Harbor.