Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Photo gallery | Women's results

WEST CHESTER, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky University cross country teams competed in the Queen City Invitational on Saturday at Voice of America Park, with the Norse women posting a fourth-place finish and the men taking fifth place.

The NKU women finished with a team score of 103 and were led by junior Jerrica Maddox, who completed the five-kilometer race in a time of 18:36. Maddox captured sixth-place honors in the individual competition.

NKU sophomore Danielle Mercer took 13th-place honors with a time of 18:56, while teammate Kayla Justice finished 22nd in a time of 19:17. Alisha Hansman took 28th place with a time of 19:31.

Cincinnati captured first-place honors in the women's race with a score of 34, followed by Xavier (47), Bellarmine (80) and NKU.

"Our women's team had some very good performances today with our three front ladies, Jerrica, Danielle & Kayla," NKU head coach Steve Kruse said. "Alisha & Kelly weren't quite on today but I'm very proud of Kelsey (Gaffney) for stepping into a scoring roll this morning. The best thing about the race is that all of our women's team was quick to recover and relatively fresh afterwards meaning they will be that much more ready when we roll into Memphis in two weeks."

In the men's race, NKU compiled a team score of 137 to take fifth place. Junior runner Ryne Smith led the Norse men by posting a 17th-place finish with a time of 15:47. Sophomore Joey Muller finished 23rd with a time of 16:00, and Brad Gloyeske was 30th by completing the course in 16:20. NKU's Brendan Chwalek finished 31st with a time of 16:22.

"The men's team had a decent opener.  We had some minor bumps in the road but nothing that cannot be easily worked out," Kruse said. "The race was larger and more competitive this year, and I think we did alright.  It was good to see Ryne Smith back in action, but he'll need to have some company up there if we are to meet our goals later this season."

Both NKU teams return to action Sept. 25 at the Memphis Twilight Classic in Memphis, Tenn.