Valparaiso finished in 23rd place at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday afternoon in Chicago, Ill.

Kristy Popp (Wilmar, Minn./Bowman H.S., N.D.) led the way for the Brown and Gold with a 163rd place finish overall, completing the five-kilometer course in 20:31. Tami McDunn (Farmington, Minn./Farmington H.S.) was 12 spots behind her teammate with a time of 20:52.

Joanne Borchert (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West H.S.) was the third Crusader to cross the finish line, doing so in 21:28 placing 187th overall, while Michelle Sexton (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Driscoll Catholic H.S.) was one place and one second behind. Renae Kotynski (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) rounded out the scorers in 191st place with a time of 21:36.

Valparaiso will return to action in two weeks, on October 16, as the Crusaders again split their squad. Some runners will head to the Pre-NCAA Meet in Terre Haute, Ind., while the rest of the team will head to the Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational held in Kenosha, Wis.