NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Natalia Seremetis led Niagara with a 32nd-place finish Friday as the Purple Eagles women placed 10th of 15 teams at the 2026 National Catholic Invitational at Burke Golf Course.

Seremetis, a junior, covered the 5-kilometer course in 18:41.7 to pace a Niagara squad that totaled 292 points. Sophomore Mercedez Covey followed in 50th at 19:18.7, and junior Olivia Meier took 83rd in 19:59.0.

Freshman Lydia Fraas (20:20.5) and sophomore Ryanna Brady (20:54.1) closed out the scoring in 97th and 121st. Niagara averaged 19:51 with a 2:12 spread between its first and fifth runners. Sophomore Annabelle Pacouloute (20:59.8) and senior Addison Pound (21:29.2) rounded out the lineup.

Host Notre Dame swept the team titles with perfect scores of 15 in both races, placing all five scorers within four-tenths of a second of one another in the women's race. Sophomore Chloe Huyler won in 16:45.4, edging teammate Isabel Allori by a tenth.

In the men's 8K, Niagara finished 14th of 16 teams with 421 points. Freshman Caleb Lantz was the Purple Eagles' top finisher, placing 68th overall in 25:59.1. Sophomore Ryan Capo crossed 110th in 27:05.9 and senior Luc DiFlavio took 138th in 27:45.1.

Freshman Rexton McKean (29:08.3) and junior Franklin Payne (29:19.7) completed the scoring five, which averaged 27:52 and finished with a 3:20 gap from first to fifth. Sophomore Chase Bolen (29:44.0) and junior Joshua Romesser (31:47.8) also competed.

Notre Dame senior Daelen Ackley won the men's race in 23:19.4, leading a Fighting Irish sweep of the top five spots.

DePaul was runner-up in both races, scoring 79 in the women's race and 120 in the men's.

Up Next

Niagara cross country heads to Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh Friday October, 2.