HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's cross country team placed fifth out of 17 teams at the Highlander Invitational hosted at the Field of Dreams on Houghton University's campus. Fifth is the Wildcats' best team result of the season, after finishing sixth out of 11 squads at the Doug Watts Open on Sept. 7 and seventh in a field of 14 at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 27.
 
Full Results
 
The Wildcats posted a team score of 177 in the race, trailing Misericordia (59), RIT (93), SUNY Brockport (104) and Houghton (115). Out of the top 15 runners, representatives from nine separate schools were included.
 
As she did in each of Daemen's first two races of the season, senior Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) finished first on the team and placed a season-best 12th out of 188 runners with a 6K PR time of 22:34.2, beating her previous best of a 22:56.7 at the 2023 NCAA Division II East Region Championships.
 
Senior Christa Oates (Tonawanda, N.Y.) placed second on the Wildcats for the second consecutive event and secured a season-best 21st place overall with a time of 23:03.9, less than three seconds shy of her PR 6K time of a 23:01.5, which she set at the 2024 NCAA DII East Region Championships. Sophomore Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y) secured third on the team for the second straight race and finished 34th individually with a 6K PR of 23:47.8, beating her previous best time of a 24:17.6 at last year's East Region Championships. Brasacchio set a 5K PR in her last outing at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational last month.
 
Sophomore Kylie Piekarski (Lancaster, N.Y.) came home fourth for the Wildcats and 53rd overall with a time of 24:13.2, a PR time in just her second career collegiate 6K. Piekarksi posted a 25:40.7 at last October's Lehigh Paul Short Run. Senior Hayley Pizur (Grand Island, N.Y.) was the Wildcats' final scorer with a PR time of 25:08.7 in her first 6K since 2023.
 
Freshman Grace Tag (North Tonawanda, N.Y) finished 141st in the individual standings with a time 26:40.4 in her first collegiate 6K race.
 
The Wildcats return to action on Oct. 18 at Noon in Buffalo for the Canisius Alumni Classic, their final race of the regular season. Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
 
Follow the Daemen University cross country/track and field program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.