Youngstown State University
Notre Dame Joe Piane Gold & Blue Invitational
Penguins Post Personal-Bests in South Bend
10/2/2026 1:00:00 PM | Cross Country
South Bend, Ind. - It was a personal-best day at the Burke Golf Course and Cross Country Course for the Youngstown State men's and women's cross country teams at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational on Friday.
The women's team posted its best team finish in the National Blue Race, placing 13th out of a field of 20 teams with 353 points, surpassing last year's team total of 415 points.
The Penguins finished ahead of ranked Great Lakes Regional teams Indiana State (12th) and Dayton (13th).
Individually, McKinley Fielding led the Penguins with a 37th-place finish out of 180 runners. In her season debut, the 2025 Horizon League Champion matched her personal-best 5K time of 16:59.3.
Caleigh Richards crossed the finish line next for the Guins with a new personal-best 5K time of 17:14.6, improving on her fourth-best time in program history by four seconds. She finished 58th, improving from her 2025 Blue Race finish of 68th.
In her third collegiate race, Erica Kaulen added her name to the program record book with a time of 17:24.0 to finish 71st. She now ranks sixth in program history in the 5K, ironically displacing her mother, Laura Thomas, from the all-time top 10.
Maggie Hopple also added her name to the top-10 record book with a personal-best time of 17:43.5 to place 93rd. Hopple improved her time from last season's Blue Race by 36 seconds and her finish by 55 places.
Megan Stafford rounded out the team's scoring efforts with a 134th-place finish and a new personal-best 5K time of 18:16.3.
Brady Sterbling and Cecelia Chase, in their Blue Race debuts, each set new personal-best 5K times of 18:20.0 and 18:20.4, respectively, to post back-to-back finishes.
In her Blue Race debut, Linsey Plant recorded a personal-best time of 18:34.3, shaving 39 seconds off her time from a season ago.
Julia Wheeler clocked 18:20.0, while Lillian Katsaras rounded out the Penguins with a time of 19:12.0.
Reigning national champions and No. 1 ranked NC State won the invitational with 39 points.
On the men's side, the team finished 13th, matching its team-best Blue Race finish from 2025, with 296 points out of an 18-team field.
Patrick Burgos led the Penguins with a 27th-place finish out of 156 runners, posting an 8K time of 23:53.5. Josh Jones followed with a 65th-place finish in 24:34.3.
Connor Shingleton improved 25 places from last season's Blue Race to finish 68th with a time of 24:35.5. Blaze Fichter was the next Penguin to cross the finish line, clocking 24:41.6 to place 75th.
In his Blue Race debut, Owen Scott rounded out the team's scoring effort with an 82nd-place finish in 24:44.4.
The No. 2-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region and invitational hosts, Notre Dame, won the invite with 22 total points.
In the women's Open Race, the team finished eighth out of an 11-team field. Claire von Boetticher led the way with a 52nd-place finish out of 103 runners, posting a personal-best 5K time of 19:16.54.
Lauren Runion finished next in 56th with a personal-best time of 19:21.43.
The men placed fifth in the Open Race out of 10 teams with 142 points. Tyce Shaner paced the men in his second collegiate race with a 38th-place finish in 25:34.75.
Caleb Prettyman posted a time of 25:37.09 to finish 39th, while Blake Baker set a new personal-best 8K time of 25:49.75, shaving more than a minute off his time from less than a week ago.
Up next the Penguins travel to College Station, Texas, for their final regular-season meet at the Texas A&M Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 16.
