The Aurora University Women's cross country team competed at the Gil Dodds Invitational. The team finished in fifth place out of 24 entered teams with a score of 192 points. They were the top-finishing NACC school. 

Deedee Colon Maldonado opened her season with a victory, separating herself from the field and finishing in a time of 21:48.0. She finished 14 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. She is the first Aurora woman to be the champion of the Gil Dodds Invitational. 

Crossing the line next for the Spartans was N'dya Fields, who finished in 24th place with a time of 23:53.8. 

Aurora's third finisher was Emma Jasutis. She completed the six-kilometer course in 24:50.9. 

Savannah Vazquez finished fourth for the Spartans in a time of 25:09.5. 

Fifth for the Spartans was Mia Luna, with a time of 25:44.7. 

Rounding out the top seven for the team were August Pautsch and Alex Gonzalez, who finished two seconds apart in 25:48.4 and 25:50.6, respectively. Pautsch's time was a 62-second personal best. 

The next race for the Spartan Cross Country team comes on Saturday, October 4th as they run at the DIII Pre-National Meet hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The meet is at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. 

Full results can be found here.