(WILMINGTON, Ohio) - Cheered on by fans and fellow students galore, the Wilmington Quakers battled through mud and rain to claim an eighth-place finish at their homestand, the JennaStrong Fall Classic.

In a move that was entirely unsurprising to the Wilmington faithful, sophomore Morgan Blair led the team across the finish line, showing remarkable grit to claim sixth place in 19:40, just a smidge off of her cross-country 5k personal best. Following her was rock solid senior Hayden Setty, who was also just a few seconds shy of a personal best with a time of 20:45, good enough for 35th place.

Not far behind Setty was freshman Sophia France, who ran a 90-second personal best of 21:05 to take 44th place. A pair of sophomores took fourth and fifth for the Quakers in 78th and 79th overall, respectively; DaShae Washington ran a time of 23:18, just off of her best, while Addison Naus ran a new personal best of 23:26.

In 83rd was junior Heather Dutenhaver, who ran a personal best of 24:14 and outpaced her time from last year's fall classic by nearly 40 seconds. Joining Naus, France, and Dutenhaver on the PR train was freshman Etta Moore, who dominated her previous college best 5k with a time of 24:34, good enough for 88th place.

It was a gritty, teeth-clinching, tough-it-out sort of performance by the Quakers, one that, in many ways, embodied the spirit of the meet's namesake, the late Jenna Parlette. The Quakers proved themselves to truly be "JennaStrong" on Friday evening, and one can only imagine the smile they must have put on the face of Jenna Parlette.
 
What's Up Next
With the fall classic in the rear-view mirror, the Quakers now turn their attention to post-season competitions, which begin at Baldwin Wallace University on October 31.