GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Mount Mary University cross country team got their season started today at the Tom Barry Invitational. Host to the invite, St. Norbert College finished first in team scoring, while Casey Hovland from the College of St. Scholastica placed first in individual times. The Blue Angels turned in a ninth place finish out of 13 schools at the race.
As she did recurrently in her previous two collegiate seasons, Jori Galles (Sr./Waukesha, Wis.) led the Blue Angels at the five kilometer race with a 29th placing. Galles finished with a 21:05.7 time, which was just thirty seconds behind her collegiate record for that distance. After missing the first few races last season, this was the first collegiate 5-kilometer race Galles has participated in since Oct. 10, 2015.
Mere paces behind Galles, Christina Ishaq (Jr./Milwaukee, Wis.) notched a 21:08.6 time. Ishaq's previous record at five kilometers was 22:15.6 before today's race. Ishaq has steadily knocked down times since joining the Blue Angels in 2015. Her 30th place finish is the second highest placing for the junior in her MMU career.
Carlie O'Donnell (Jr./Sharon, Wis.) placed 120th at the TBI. O'Donnell starts off the season with a 26:50.6 time at her first 5-k of the year. In previous seasons, O'Donnell has been able to chip away at her opening times by over 90 seconds by the end of the season.
Sarah Anklam (Jr./St. Marys, Ga.) and Mary Jenk (So./Wild Rose, Wis.) rounded out the scoring for the Blue Angels with 27:33.1 and 28:46.1 time respectively. Newcomer Ashley Tannert (Jr./New Berlin, Wis.) finished her first collegiate race with a 33:12.2 time.
MMU will turn around and race next Sat. Sept. 9 at the Ken Weidt Classic. The course can be found on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin, a fellow Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference team. Starting gun sounds at 11:00 am. Updates can be found at mtmaryathletics.com.
