MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Women's Cross Country season will get underway Friday at Golden Gate Park, as the Gaels will open their season for the fifth consecutive year at the USF Invitational. Picked to finish sixth in the WCC Preseason Poll, the Gaels will hope to defy expectations and challenge the top dogs in the conference from the Pacific Northwest. 

The Gaels are coming off of a 2024 campaign that saw them finish in fifth place in the WCC and 24th in the West Region. Kaylee Barnes and Eleanor Jepsen proved to be the top two runners for Saint Mary's throughout the season, and both return in 2025, while Luna Mole made her cross country debut for the Gaels in 2024 and immediately threw herself into the mix as a standout. SMC did graduate two of their long-time top-five finishers, Klara Frih and Emily Field, leaving at least two spots up for grabs in the Gaels top-five. 

With the meet taking place just 25 miles from campus, the Gaels will run their entire cross country roster at the invitational. Of course eyes will be on the likes of Barnes, Jepsen and Mole, but so too will they be on many of the many Gael newcomers. Two names that have headlined Coach Marty Kinsey's cross country recruiting class are freshmen Maya Crimin and Emma West, both hailing from The Beaver State. Both Crimin and West competed in the Oregon State 5A Championships, with both finishing within the top-20. 

The Golden Gate Park Cross Country Course is a mostly flat 2000m loop composed of grass and dirt with a gradual descent from the start to the 600m mark and a gradual uphill elevation change from 1200m mark to the 1800m mark. The women's race will feature three laps around this course for the standard DI distance of 6 kilometers. A year ago, the Gaels took home fifth place in this 10 team race. Kaylee Barnes paced the team with a 4th place finish and a time of 20:42.4, a then PR for her. Eleanor Jepsen (24th) was the Gaels number two finisher, while Luna Mole (32nd) made her collegiate debut to the tune of third best finisher for SMC. Now graduates, Klara Firh and Elle Shrader finished in 39th and 40th to round out the top-five SMC finishers. 

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