TOWSON, Md. – Junior Kellen Rutto paced the NSU women's cross country team with a 20th-place finish last Friday at the Towson Invitational.

Rutto finished the 5,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 54.78 seconds. She earned 19 points toward the team total for NSU, which placed ninth out of 10 teams. Freshman Ariel Bartice-Smith was second among NSU runners in 44th place (22:38.03), one spot ahead of senior Jamia Hutto (22:40.88). Kassandra Irizarry (22:45.86) and Syeeda Gee (23:39.33) rounded out the Spartans' top five in 47th and 60th places, respectively.

NSU is back in action this Saturday at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.