SUNNYVALE, Calif. - The Saint Mary's Women's Cross Country team competed in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, sending groups to run in both the invitational and open races. In the invite, they placed sixth out of 19 teams and in the open, they finished third out of 14. 

Starting off with the Invite, Kaylee Barnes finished second overall with a time of 20:15.4, exactly one second behind the top place finisher. This is Barnes' best time by 27 seconds. Eleanor Jepsen also ran her personal best and secured 26th with a time of 21:14.4. Jepsen's previous best time was at the Santa Clara Bronco Invite in 2023, but improved by 21.6 seconds in this year's race. Andrea Villegas improved her PR time from the Pacific Invite by 23.3 seconds, finishing in 49th overall with a time of 21:45.2. 

Lauren Buckley led the Gaels in the open, as she crossed the finish line in 15th with a new personal best with a time of 23:00.4. Jane Harig finished in 18th 10.3 seconds behind Buckley, while Ava Luczkow finished in 26th with a time of 23:27.1. Freshman Alexis Ortiz improved greatly from the Pacific Invite held in September, with a new PR in today's invite. Ortiz finished in 51st place with a time of 24:16.2, 46.7 seconds faster than her previous best time. 

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