MORAGA, Calif. - With the 2024 season coming to a close, the Saint Mary's Women's cross country team had plenty to celebrate, with two first place finishes and a top-five finish at the WCC Championships, creating back-to-back top five finishes for the first time since 2000 and 2001. Kaylee Barnes was the leading Gael with the most top team finishes and numerous PRs throughout the season.
 
Just a junior, Barnes was the first Gael to finish in every race she competed in this season. Barnes started off the season with a PR 6K time of 20:42.4 at the USF Invitational, and continued to improve throughout the season, eventually earning her best time at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. At that meet, Barnes finished second overall with a time of 20:15.4. She continued to make excellent strides with a 12th place finish at the West Coast Conference Championships, good for her second All-WCC nod, and 45th at the West Regional, being the only Gael to finish in the top-50. 
 
Eleanor Jepsen and Andrea Villegas joined Barnes to make up the Gaels top-3 runners, and also earned their personal best times at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Jepsen improved her PR time from last year's Bronco Invitational by 21.6 seconds for a best of 21:14.4. Villegas, a first-year Gael, set her PR 21:45.2 at the event in Sunnyvale, making it her first sub-22 minute 6K. 
 
Other key runners for the Gaels this included Luna Mole, who competed in six of seven races for SMC and posted a PR of 22:09.0 at the WCC Championships, Klara Frih, who competed in and scored in six of seven races for the Gaels and Emily Field, who scored in the final four races for Saint Mary's. The Gaels have good youth, with Barnes, Jepsen, Villegas, and Mole all with eligibility to return to cross country action next season.
 
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