HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Daemen University women's cross country juniors Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) and Kylie Piekarski (Lancaster, N.Y.) posted top-15 finishes as the Wildcats finished seventh out of 11 teams at the Highlander Invitational on Saturday afternoon. 

Full Results

Brasacchio returned to the top of the Wildcat runners with a PR time of 23:19.2 over the 6K race to finish 11th out of 140 runners. The junior crushed her previous 6K best time (23:47.8 set at the 2025 Highlander Invitational) by nearly 30 seconds. Piekarski placed 14th overall with a PR time of 23:33.9, shaving 40 seconds off previous 6K record (24:13.2) set at the 2025 Highlander Invitational.

Running in her first career 6K, freshman Julie Cruz (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished third on the team with a time of 24:28.8 to finish 33rd overall. Sophomore Raegan Giardini (West Clarksville, N.Y.) beat her previous PR by over a minute, finishing today with a 6K PR of 24:56.9 to finish 52nd, cruising past her 2025 best (25:55.8). Graduate student Alexis Nguyen (Grand Island, N.Y.) placed fifth on the team and 73rd overall with a time of 25:54.8 in her first career 6K. 

The Wildcats will remain in Western New York next weekend to run in the Canisius Alumni Classic at Buffalo's Delaware Park.