DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Ashford University women's cross country team took part in the Clarke Invitational on Friday evening, finishing in third place overall.

The Saints once again got out to a fast start in the 5K race, but they would tail off in the second half of the race, costing the team position for the second straight week.

"I am a little disappointed in our performance today as a team," Saints Head Coach Tyson Graham said. "We are young and inexperienced and we made the same mistake as last week, going out too hard. We were on average 30 seconds fast in the first mile again. We are capable of some amazing times if we learn how to pace ourselves."

Freshman Emily Paull of Somonauk, Ill. led the Saints once again, finishing in fifth place overall with a time of 20:23. Paull was the only Saints' runner to place in the top-10.

Freshman Soryia Sabir of Algonquin, Ill. placed 14th overall after running at a clip of 21:04. Junior Raven Ruger of Gillete, Wyo. came in 16th place after finishing with a time of 21:08.

Freshman Angela Woolbright (23rd/21:37), juniors Nkemidilim Okwumabua (26th/22:45) and Samatha Young (27th/22:50) and sophomore Ann Chezem (28th/22:54) rounded out the times for the Saints.

The meet was won by Viterbo University, who placed five runners in the top-seven.

The Saints will be back on the course in two weeks, when they travel to Orlando, Fla. for the Disney Classic on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:45 a.m.